Devils extend Andy Greene for five years

The New Jersey Devils decided to lock up their best veteran defenseman as he came off a year that might have saw him enter his prime as Andy Greene signed a five year extension worth 25 million dollars.

Greene is coming off a season that saw him become the team's steadying force on defense and have the best overall year of his career.
The question is after the team just escaped one long term contract on the blueline this season by buying Anton Volchenkov out of his deal and one year away from Bryce Salvador walking away,why now and will Andy Greene continue to progress or has Greene plateaued?

Greene turns 32 in October and his prime years could be in front of him as his best season was last year,so that might be a good indicator that this might be a nice deal for the Devils.
The problem is this-A five year deal is simply too long in my opinion.

Considering that the deal is added onto the current contract with ends at the end of this season,so the commitment holds Greene to the team for the next six years and will see that Greene is under hold until he is 37.
That alone doesn't sound so bad until you realize that if some  (and the odds say some) of the younger Devil defensemen work as long term linchpins of the franchise and will need new agreements within the time frame of the Greene contract.
Whether its any or all of Adam Larsson,Eric Gelinas,Jon Merrill or anyone currently on Albany's roster or even still at juniors/college,those players that work out will need to be taken care of
So,my issue is not the extension (fine with that) or the cost (five million per year is not unreasonably high overall),it is the length of the deal,which is the M.O.of late for Lou Lamoriello and the Devils that could make him more difficult to move Greene late in the deal or make him almost a drag on the team at that time.

Overall,I like keeping Greene,like the cost and the Devils should be getting a lot of production for the first few years of the deal.
However,the length of the contract levels my opinions out a bit as the Devils might be trading early production for later salary problems for a well past his prime player...

Back later with thoughts on the Indians trading Justin Masterson and a few days old thoughts on Jake Peavy's arrival as a Giant....