Was Will Smith killed out of revenge?

Police said Sunday they were investigating whether the shooting that killed former New Orleans Saints defensive back Will Smith was a simple case of road rage or part of a more elaborate revenge plot.

Just hours before the deadly confrontation Saturday night, Smith had dinner with former New Orleans police officer Billy Ceravolo and they were pictured together, The New Orleans Advocate reports.

The shooting suspect, 28-year-old Cardell Hayes, had sued the city’s police department over a 2005 police shooting that killed his father, naming Ceravolo as one of the defendants.

Police said they had no indication that Smith and Hayes knew each other before the shooting, which unfolded after Hayes rear-ended the athlete’s car.

Mike McGlynn, who played with the Saints during the 2015 season, told Fox News Smith’s death casts light on the issue of gun violence in New Orleans.

The two argued, and Hayes shot both Smith and Smith’s wife, Racquel, police said.

He said Hayes ran into the back of Smith’s Mercedes while following a hit-and-run driver who had rear-ended his Humvee and sped off.

Smith was beloved by fans for his role in New Orleans’ 2009 Super Bowl championship, though the defensive captain also was at the center of the NFL’s bounty probe in 2012, the last year he played in an NFL regular season game.

The New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame says Smith had been unanimously voted into the hall last month.