From Yahoo Sports

NEW YORK (AP)—For all the money the New York Jets spent this offseason on free agents, Kerry Rhodes patiently waited and wondered when his big payday would come.

“When people were getting signed and me being an athlete and having feelings and thinking about what was going on, there were times when that was in the back of my mind,” the star safety said Thursday. “But they came right away and reassured me, so it was a good feeling.”

And so is being one of the richest safeties in the NFL. The Jets signed Rhodes to a five-year extension for $33.5 million, including $20 million guaranteed, according to various media reports. It’s just short of the five-year, $37.5 million deal Indianapolis’ Bob Sanders, the defensive player of the year, got before last season.

“I was pretty confident that something would be done because of the feedback that I got at the end of the year, that there was something in the works for me down the line,” Rhodes said. “They were proactive in trying to get something done. I always had an idea that it would get done.”

The 25-year-old Rhodes, entering his fourth season, had a year left on his rookie contract—he was due to make $927,000 this season—and would’ve become an unrestricted free agent after this season.

“I think it’s good that we got it done early,” he said. “It’s a big lift off my back knowing where I’ll be the next couple of years and having a little security”

Rhodes has eight sacks and 10 interceptions in three seasons and has been a starter since being drafted in the fourth round out of Louisville in 2005.

“It’s a sense of gratification because I was looked over a little bit,” said Rhodes, a former quarterback. “I mean, I didn’t play safety long coming from college. People said I was a talent, but even leading up to the draft, I was told I would be like a second-rounder, so the fact I slipped to the fourth, I mean, it happened and that’s in the past. … It’s just evidence that hard work pays off.”

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