Lions Sign Safety Dwight Smith

by Sean Yuille on Feb 27, 2008 7:30 PM EST in Roster Comment 0 comments

As first reported by Pro Football Talk, the Lions have signed former Vikings safety Dwight Smith to a two-year deal.

A league source tells us that Smith has agreed to terms with the Detroit Lions. He’ll sign a two-year, $5 million deal.

Per the source, Smith gets a $350,000 signing bonus, a $300,000 training-camp reporting bonus in 2008, and a 2008 base salary of $1.35 million. Next year, Smith is due to receive a $500,000 roster bonus, a $250,000 reporting bonus, and a base salary of $2.25 million.

Smith is from the city of Detroit and once played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This should come as no surprise considering Rod Marinelli loves bringing in players he used to coach at Tampa Bay, and Smith is one of them.

Although Daily Norseman, our Vikings blog at SB Nation, doesn't care for Smith at all, I think this is a good move as it adds much-needed depth to the secondary. Adding Smith means another veteran player of the Tampa-2 defense will be on the field, which is always a good thing.

With Smith joining the Lions, there now is some talk about whether or not Kenoy Kennedy will be in Detroit when the season starts. Tom Kowalski doesn't think the signing of Smith means Kennedy is gone, but instead believes that it just means Kennedy will have to fight for a spot on the roster. I would tend to agree with that considering how much of a need exists for defensive backs. For now, it appears the Lions will just hold on to the remaining secondary players until more depth is added.

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