Bengals RT Andre Smith Contract Details & Market Comparison

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Bengals re-signed RT Andre Smith.

Smith’s contract details: (Aaron Wilson)

• Smith receives a three-year deal worth $18 million. 
• $3 million bonus
• $5 million in total guarantees.
• $2 million roster bonus will be paid on May 2, with $1 million annual roster bonuses.
• $200,000 workout bonuses
• $62,500 per game active

Contract comparison:

1. Gosder Cherilus (:  five-years, $34.5 million total, $15.5 million guaranteed.
2. : four-years, $17 million total, and $8.25 million guaranteed.
3. : four-year, $25 million contract, $7 million guaranteed.
4. Andre Smith (26): three-years, $18 million total, and $5 million guaranteed.

Pro Football Focus 2012 rating comparison: 

1. Andre Smith: 26.9
2. Gosder Cherilus:  23.4
3. Sebastian Vollmer: 21.5
4. Phil Loadholt: 15.8

This is just a simple comparison of the deals secured by the best free agent right tackles this season. There are still some decent players available like Eric Winston and Tyson Clabo, both of who are unlikely to come close to some of these contracts.

Cherilus had a great 2012 season, but he received almost twice as much in terms of guarantees than Vollmer who put together a pretty good season of his own. The Colts were very aggressive at the start of free agency, but after seeing how the market played out, they clearly over paid Cherilus. It’s worth noting that their 2011 roster purge left them with a ton of cap space to work with, which mitigates at least a portion of the cap impact they’ll incur in the coming years.

Smith stands out as a real bargain, especially when you consider the amount of guaranteed money included in his new contract and the fact that he’s still only 26-years-old.

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Bengals HC Marvin Lewis reiterated on Tuesday that he’s “optimistic” that they’ll be able to reach an agreement with free agent RT Andre Smith before the start the draft on Thursday.

Lewis added that Smith would like to get a deal done and he would like remain in Cincinnati.

Smith hasn’t found much interest outside of the Bengals this offseason, so it seems reasonable that he would be willing to lower his asking price right before the draft seeing as Cincinnati could always take a potential replacement at some point during the draft. On top of that, guys like Eric Winston and Tyson Clabo are still available in the free agent market.

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Bengals HC Marvin Lewis appears to be hopeful that they could reach an agreement with free agent RT Andre Smith before the start of the upcoming draft.

“We’re getting down to the time of that because we feel it’s important,” said Lewis, via the Cincinnati Enquirer. “He wants to get it done but he has to get his representation and our people to come to an agreement. He’s anxious for it to occur and hopefully it happens quickly. Everyone realizes when we get into the draft it becomes a different situation.”

• Ian Rapoport adds that although Lewis sounds optimistic that they could get something worked out in the coming days, he doesn’t “sense any movement.“

Lewis added that even if they were to reach an agreement with Smith next week, there’s still a chance they could address the position at some point during the draft.

With Eric Winston and Tyson Clabo also available on the open market, it’s doubtful that any of them will be able to secure the type of money that they were hoping to get last month. We’ll have to see if there’s any movement regarding the tackle market in the coming days.