Raiders beef up secondary, add CB Sean Smith

Other teams may have gotten the headlines on Wednesday, as the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants and Houston Texans gave major money to free agents, but the Oakland Raiders haven’t exactly been stingy.

On Thursday morning news came that they have signed veteran cornerback Sean Smith to a four-year, $40 million deal with half of that money guaranteed. The move will certainly improve the Raiders’ secondary, but it also serves to weaken their AFC West rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs; Smith had spent the last three years with the Chiefs, and last year partnered with defensive rookie of the year Marcus Peters, a formidable tandem.

Smith is still not yet 29 years old and is entering his eighth NFL season. A second-round pick of the Dolphins in 2009, he has started 100 of 108 games, with 10 career interceptions and 87 pass break-ups.

He served a three-game suspension at the start of the 2015 season for a 2014 incident when he hit a light pole in downtown Kansas City. Smith pled guilty to a charge of driving under the influence and failure to present proof of insurance.

He went on to start the final 13 games of the regular season as well as the Chiefs’ two playoff games; Smith recorded an interception and six tackles in Kansas City’s wild card win over the Houston Texans.