Pete_Prisco

The Cincinnati Bengals lost defensive end Justin Smith in free agency to the San Francisco 49ers. They replaced him Monday with former Tennessee Titans defensive end Atnwan Odom.

The Bengals traded up.

Odom is younger and had eight sacks last season to two for Smith. He has good pass-rush ability. If reports are true that Odom got a five-year, $30 million deal with $11 million in guaranteed money, the Bengals got him for a pretty good rate. I had Odom ranked second on my list of free agents, ahead of Smith.

It will be interesting to see how those two compare durung the 2008 season. I bet Odom has at least three more sacks -- maybe more -- than Smith.

Getting Odom is a step up from Smith for the Bengals.

Franchise quarterbacks cure ills. Not having one expsoes them.

That's why the Pittsburgh Steelers signing Ben Roethlisberger to an eight-year, $102-million deal was the right thing to do. When you have a 26-year-old franchise passer,  you make sure he isn't going anywhere.

The Steelers gave their quarterback peace of mind by rewarding him with the long-term deal. Roethlisberger has already won a Super Bowl ring, but it's more than that. He is just now reaching his prime. Locking him up for the long haul is the right thing. Some people will say it's a lot of money for such a young quarterback, but Roethlisberger is 26 and that's the right age to give him the long-term extension.

Franchise passers cure ills. Lack of one exposes them.

Big Ben is more than worth the money.

You can bet Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback David Garrard saw the new deal signed by Pitrtsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger Monday and took a close look at the numbers.

Big Ben signed an eight-year, $102-million deal Monday. Garrard has one year left on his dea and the Jaguars are hoping to get him signed to a long-term deal.

Even though Garrard's resume isn't as impressive as Roethlisberger's, you can bet his agent will be looking closely at Roethlisberger's deal. The two sides have talked about a new deal, but nothing is imminent.

Expect Garrard's asking price to be in the same neighborhood of the deal Tony Romo got from the Cowboys, which is six years, $67.5 million. If his price gets crazy, the Jaguars could also put the franchise tag on him next year. For that reason, something will get done.

But Roethlisberger's deal won't make it any easier for the Jaguars.

The Jacksonville Jaguars had trouble with their nickel corner last season. Terry Cousin got old.  Teams went after him.  So they made a nice move Saturday signing former Chargers corner Drayton Florence a a free agent.

Florence will be an upgrade over Cousin, but they did pay him a lot of money to just be the third corner. If reports are right, the Jaguars paid Florence a deal that includes $12 million in guaranteed money. But when you play the Indianapolis Colts twice -- and they are the division champs -- you better be able to cover the slot player. The Jaguars were in nickel 60-percent of the time last season. The New England Patriots, the AFC champs, also force teams to play the nickel most of the time.

Florence started 10 games last year before losing his job to Antonio Cromarite. He will join starting corners Rashean Mathis and Brian Williams in Jacksonville.

The Jaguars also finalized the trade of defensive tackle Marcus Stroud to the Buffalo Bills Saturday, getting a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick in exchange. Stroud was not happy with the way the organization treated him after he was suspended for four games for violating the league's polciy on performance-enhancing drugs.