New Orleans defensive end Will Smith has signed a contract extension that will make him one of the NFL’s highest-paid defensive players.
The 2004 first-round pick from Ohio State signed a six-year deal worth about $70 million, making him the third-highest paid DE, behind Minnesota’s Jared Allen and Indianapolis’ Dwight Freeney.
*Plaxico Burress says he isn’t going to practice with the Giants until the Super Bowl champions give him a new contract. The wide receiver, who has three years remaining his six-year, $25 million deal, reported to mini-camp but refused to work out because he wasn’t happy with the way contract negotiations were progressing. … Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters will be fined by the Bills for missing the start of the team’s mini-camp, and teammates said his absence might be due to a contract dispute.
*Jonathan Ogden, 34, will retire Thursday, ending a stellar career with the Ravens in which the left tackle garnered 11 Pro Bowl invitations and a Super Bowl ring.
*Defensive end Chris Canty signed a $2 million free-agent offer from the Cowboys. … The Browns released oft-injured center LeCharles Bentley.
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*John Rauch, the former Georgia quarterback who coached the Oakland Raiders to a berth in the second Super Bowl, died in Oldsmar, Fla. He was 80.
*Former Colts DB Dexter Reid had his Virginia driver’s license suspended six months for a felony drug conviction.
*AFL: The Rush have lost first-team All-Arena League linebacker DeJuan Alonzo for the season with a torn right biceps. Alonzo, second on the team with 80 tackles, will undergo surgery next week and faces six to eight months of recovery.
— John Mullin
*COLLEGES: Bill Curry, 65, will become the first coach of Georgia State’s new football program. … Former West Virginia football coach Don Nehlen, 72, is recuperating after having triple heart bypass surgery. … Freddie Fairchild, the Arkansas linebacker arrested in March on misdemeanor charges of battery and false imprisonment, has been dismissed from the football team.
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EDITED BY LEE C. GORDON FROM TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICES