How Will Smith and Jonathan Vilma fit into the Saints new 3-4 defense remains to be seen.
But they’ll fit into their pants easier today, because their wallets are much thinner.
According to Larry Holder of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, both players took significant pay cuts as part of yesterday’s restructurings, which cleared more than $10 million worth of cap space.
Smith took a $6 million cut, from $9 million in base salary to $3 million. He will keep a $1 million roster bonus and a $150,000 workout bonus. His compensation for 2014 was unchanged.
Vilma’s $1.1 million roster bonus went away, and his base salary was reduced from $4.8 million to $1 million, though his workout bonus was doubled from $100,000 to $200,000.
That’s a steep price for the players to pay, but they apparently decided it beats looking for work.