The trade of offensive linemen Wayne Hunter to the Rams for Jason Smith has become official being cleared by the NFL. When the deal was first reported it seemed as if the Jets would be incurring Smith’s current guaranteed salary of $4 million this season while Hunter had a salary of $2.45 million.
The Rams and Smith renegotiated his contract for the 2012 season before the trade was completed. The Rams changed $1.55 million of Smith’s guaranteed base salary into a signing bonus leaving him with a guaranteed base salary of $2.45 million, which the Jets now acquire, matching that of Hunter. So the Jets did not use any additional cap space bringing in Smith.
League source: Jason Smith signed a deal with Rams before 4pm with $1.55M SB. The contract traded to Jets was for $2.45M
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaSports) August 28, 2012
Mike Tannenbaum announces that the deal is official. "Jason's a Jet." Says there's a chance Smith may play few snaps Thursday vs Eagles
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaSports) August 28, 2012
