Justin Smith Signs Two-Year Extension With San Francisco 49ers; Good Call or Bad Call?


While the exceptional play of Colin Kaepernick surely helped, the San Francisco 49ers made it to Super Bowl XLVII because of their stout defense. With that being said, the “Smith Brothers” were the ones who led the defensive attack for San Francisco and the ones who deserve to get paid.

Justin Smith didn’t have the monstrous season that Aldon Smith had, but the 13-year NFL veteran got a two-year extension with the Niners on Wednesday.

Despite being 33 years old, many believe that Justin was indeed San Francisco’s MVP in 2012. Looking at the numbers, it’s hard to make that argument, yet the double-team factor definitely plays a part in Justin’s new extension. No. 94 only missed two games last season, but the results weren’t pretty for the 49ers and for Aldon in particular.

Surely, the two are connected for reasons other than their last name.

It’s not a coincidence that when Justin was out of action last year, Aldon didn’t record a single sack — No. 99 was a Pro Bowl linebacker who sacked the quarterback 19.5 times last season. Bringing the savvy veteran back for two more years also saves the franchise a lot of money. San Francisco has yet to sign first-round safety Eric Reid, who is set to make more than $1.5 million in 2013.

The Seattle Seahawks have been in the 49ers’ cross hairs since they drubbed San Francisco in Week 15 by a score of 42-13. Although Justin didn’t play in that particular game, the defensive end has been around long enough to know that Russell Wilson isn’t someone to be taken lightly.


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