New York Jets trade OT Wayne Hunter to St. Louis Rams, gets Jason Smith in return – NFL News
With the start of the season just around the corner, many teams are adjusting their rosters and New York Jets and St. Louis Rams have done the same by exchanging their offensive tackles.
Both sides finalised the deal on Monday, August 27, 2012, through which Jets will get the former second-round pick Jason Smith, while Rams will take away tackle Wayne Hunter.
Trading of Hunter is a surprising move by Jets who only said last week that they had no intentions of releasing the veteran.
The deal was initiated by Rams after Jets announced that Hunter would no longer be the starting right tackle come the start of the season.
Rams offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer took the opportunity to get the player he regards so much. Schottenheimer worked with Jets as an offensive coordinator for six years and has a hands-on experience of working with Hunter.
Jets were unable to ignore a deal put forward by Rams. Jets will pay Smith $ 1.55 million more than Hunter in the 2012 season. This is because Smith’s current wage is $ 4 million, while Hunter’s wage is $2.45 million.
Hunter has been consistently unimpressive in the offseason. He even failed to produce good results while coming as a backup.
Both fans and media have severely criticised Hunter’s game-play. After getting demoted to a mere backup last week, Hunter grudgingly said:
"The whole New York City knows that I've been struggling for the last year and the last game (I) didn't do much better. I was waiting for it, to be honest with you. I knew I was struggling. I knew everything was kind of going south for me."
Smith, on the other hand, has spent most of his four-year career fighting with injuries. He managed to play just 29 games in his four seasons in the league. Smith will likely take up the backup position left by Hunter.
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