New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith is sitting out the team’s voluntary off-season workouts to show his displeasure with the status of negotiations on a contract extension, but Saints coach Sean Payton says there are no hard feelings, and he’s optimistic that Smith and the team can work out a deal.

“He’s one of the guys who has become a leader in that locker room,” Payton tells Jimmy Smith of the Times-Picayune. “I think for him it’s wanting to get a new deal and hey, all parties want that. It’s just a matter of sorting through and arriving at the right number.”

Smith is entering the final season of the five-year deal he signed as the Saints’ first-round pick in 2004. He is scheduled to earn a little over $1 million. The Saints’ other starting defensive end, Charles Grant, signed a seven-year contract with $20 million in guarantees last year. Grant has 21.5 sacks in the last four years; Smith has 33.5.

Payton said Smith was the only Saints player who skipped the first two weeks of off-season workouts.