The Denver Broncos have agreed to terms on a one-year, $2 million contract with defensive lineman Antonio Smith, per the team.
The #Broncos have agreed to terms on a one-year deal with DL Antonio Smith.
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) April 2, 2015
Smith was drawing interest from the Texans and Broncos immediately after being let go by the Oakland Raiders, where he played one season. The fit in Denver was obvious, since Smith has ties to defensive line coach Bill Kollar, who helped get the best years of his career out of him in Houston.
I’m sure having Gary Kubiak and Wade Phillips around didn’t hurt either.
Smith is obviously past his glory days in the NFL, but he can still be an effective 3-4 defensive lineman, and the Broncos will play him all around the formation. He can get after the quarterback.
He’s also a very durable player. Over the last 10 years, he’s only had one season in which he didn’t play all 16 games. For his career, Smith has 302 tackles, 44.5 sacks, and 11 forced fumbles.
He brings some nice veteran competition to a defensive line that is now taking form for the 2015 season. It’s hard to believe the Broncos will carry more than six or seven defensive lineman, and as it currently stands, Smith is joining a group that also includes Sylvester Williams, Derek Wolfe, Malik Jackson, Marvin Austin, and free agent acquisition Vance Walker.
Smith also gives the Broncos great flexibility in their rotations. This was, overall, just a really solid move for John Elway and company, and like many of the other pickups this offseason, it doesn’t count against their compensatory draft selection formula for the 2016 offseason.
He played almost 800 snaps last season for the Raiders, where he was out of place in their 4-3 alignment. Under Kollar, now with the Broncos, Smith has been an elite level 3-4 defensive lineman and will hopefully prove to have something left in the tank to give the Broncos a boost in their depth.