Broncos acquire DE Le Kevin Smith from New England

The Denver Broncos agreed to a deal with the New England Patriots to acquire defensive lineman Le Kevin Smith.  Terms of the deal were not immediately known, though it is being reported that the deal has Smith, along with the Patriots 7th Round pick in 2010 heading to the Broncos for Denver's 5th Round selection.  Again, that has not been verified.

Smith was drafted in the 6th Round of the 2006 Draft and has seen bit parts in the Pats' defense each of the past 3 seasons.

While this move is not going to tip the news scales, it is another move by the Broncos to bring in players that understand the defense the Broncos are trying to play.  Depth along the front has been a concern and Smith will bring in another player to compete with the existing crew.  It also provides the Broncos another 5-technique with experience in the 3-4 defense.

"The 3-4 defensive end requires a special technique and special athlete," said Smith's agent, Adisa Bakari. "It requires the size of a defensive tackle and the agility of athleticism of a large defensive end. It's hard to play the 3-4 without one. It's why those guys go so high in the draft. Le Kevin is athletic enough to play the end and strong enough to play over center."

Here are some of his highlights from the 2008 season, including a fumble recovery against the Broncos -

Played in a reserve role along the defensive line and totaled a career-high 21 tackles (10 solo) ... Tallied his first career fumble recovery against Denver (10/20) ... Notched a career high five tackles at Seattle (12/7) ... Played in the season's final 15 games after being inactive in the season opener against Kansas City (9/7) ... Tallied one tackle playing in reserve at defensive end against Miami (9/21) ... Played on defensive sub packages and made one solo tackle at San Diego (10/12) ... Credited with his first career fumble recovery, scooping up a ball freed on Lewis Sanders' strip of Broncos running back Andre Hall against Denver (10/20) ... Tallied three tackles ... Contributed two tackles in coverage playing in reserve at defensive end against St. Louis (10/26) ... Tallied a single-game career high five tackles, including three solo stops at Seattle (12/7) ... Dragged down Maurice Morris for a 1-yard loss ... Helped create the hole for Ellis Hobbs' 95-yard touchdown kickoff return as Hobbs tied the Patriots franchise record with his third career kickoff return for a touchdown at Oakland (12/14) ... Dropped Darren McFadden for no gain ... Notched two tackles (1 solo) against Arizona (12/21) ... Played in reserve at defensive end, tallying two tackles in the Patriots' shutout victory at Buffalo (12/28).