NFL NOTES: Deal sets up Ward to finish with Steelers

Deal sets up Ward to finish with Steelers

PITTSBURGH - Wide receiver Hines Ward apparently will get his wish to finish his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Ward, about to enter the final season of his contract, agreed yesterday to a contract extension that will pay him a lower salary than the $5.8 million he was to make this season but will make up the money in a signing bonus.

The deal was expected to be worth about $22 million over four seasons, although only a portion of that would be guaranteed.

The Steelers were only about $2 million under the salary cap last week, not enough money to sign their draft picks, and they have been working to create cap room since signing All-Pro linebacker James Harrison to a $51.75 million, six-year contract.

Rams bolster blocking with choice of Smith

ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis Rams filled their greatest need with the second pick of the NFL draft, taking offensive tackle Jason Smith of Baylor.

The Rams have many holes to fill, as evidenced by their 5-27 record the last two years and the fact they picked second for the second straight year. They created the biggest gap on the line when they released seven-time Pro Bowl selection Orlando Pace.

Pace, a fixture at left tackle since being picked first overall in 1997, had been dogged by injuries in recent seasons and was released.

"Obviously, that is big shoes to follow," Smith said. "I have to go in and make my own shoes."

Chiefs target defense

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - With his first draft selection as the man in charge in Kansas City, Scott Pioli took dead aim at the most glaring of his new team's many needs.

Tyson Jackson, a quick and strong defensive end from LSU, was taken with the No. 3 overall pick and should lend immediate improvement to a defense that set an NFL record for pass-rushing futility with only 10 sacks.

Pioli admitted he had his eye on several players for the highest pick the Chiefs have exercised since 1988.

"There were a couple of players we liked at this spot and this was the player we liked the most," he said. The man who helped build the New England Patriots dynasty before replacing Carl Peterson last January agreed the Chiefs "have a number of positions of need."

Jackson is also the third LSU player in three years to be taken with Kansas City's first selection. In 2007, they went for wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, then a year ago selected defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey.

Big choice for Bengals

CINCINNATI - Two days before the draft, the Cincinnati Bengals called offensive tackle Andre Smith and told him to get ready for a surprise visit to his home in Birmingham, Ala., one that would involve getting on a scale.

When the junior tackle weighed in at 337 pounds, only slightly higher than his playing weight, the Bengals were sold. The huge lineman with some big questions about maturity would be their first-round draft pick.

Cincinnati took Smith with the sixth overall pick, bringing in a lot of girth to help protect quarterback Carson Palmer. The junior from Alabama gave teams some second thoughts when he left the scouting combine unannounced in February.

Two months of visits led the Bengals to make Smith the first offensive tackle they've taken with a top pick since Levi Jones in 2002.

- From Wire Reports