[Kansas City.com] The Chiefs found their starting quarterback today by reaching an agreement to trade for San Francisco 49ers veteran Alex Smith, a source familiar with the deal told The Star.
The trade, first reported by Fox Sports, would indicate the Chiefs plan to part ways with Matt Cassel, who had been their starting quarterback most of the past four seasons.
In exchange for Smith, the Chiefs will give up their second-round draft pick in this April’s NFL Draft, No. 34 overall, plus a future conditional draft pick to the 49ers.
The trade will not become official until March 12, when the NFL’s new business year begins.
Smith sustained a concussion Nov. 11 and back-up Colin Kaepernick played well in his place. Coach Jim Harbaugh stuck with him even when Smith got healthy, and Kaepernick led the 49ers to the NFC championship and a close loss to Baltimore in the Super Bowl.
The 28-year-old Smith struggled for most of his career in San Francisco, plagued as much by coaching and coordinator changes as by his own indecisiveness. But when Harbaugh became coach, Smith blossomed. He was among the league leaders in passer rating (104.1) with a 70.2 completion percentage when he was injured in a 24-24 tie against St. Louis.
We got Alex
Comment by Devon — February 27, 2013 @ 2:37 pm
I believe he is the best available QB this year. Some will argue we should have drafted someone, but you have no idea which of those QBs are going to be good. None of the QBs in this draft rate as high as the top 5 from last season. Just our luck! At least with A. Smith, you know what you’re getting. Second round pick is steep, but probably had to do it to beat other team offers. I think everyone will agree this is an upgrade from last year.
Comment by Jeff in VA — February 27, 2013 @ 5:00 pm
I Like It , He needs Us almost as Bad as we need Him . He needs his own team and coach that believes in him. Goooo Chiefs !!!!
Comment by BigKCSaint — February 27, 2013 @ 10:04 pm
You guys will have thousands of Niner fans rooting for the Chiefs and Alex, I will be one of them. He is really popular in the Bay Area because of the way he handled himself during the frustration of having 7 different Offensive Coordinators and two incredibly incompetent head coaches. He finally got a coach who knew how to coach QB’s and the rest is history. He is a perfect fit for Andy Reid’s offense, you will really like what you see and get. A class act and gifted athlete. His command of the offense, blitz reads, and accuracy will be obvious. The Chiefs got a battled tested NFL QB for a second round draft pick, could be the steal of the year. Go Chiefs.
Comment by Sddave — February 27, 2013 @ 11:00 pm
KC jumped the gun a little to fast. Could have gotten him on free agency on March 12th
Comment by Dave — February 28, 2013 @ 11:11 pm
In response and with respect to Dave, We got Smith for basically nothing really. So not a bad deal at all, plus the way I understand it, he is to play out his existing contract, so this is more like an audition, not that he needs to justify himself or abilities, basically SHOW ME as we say in Missouri. Now all the Chiefs have to do is give him some targets for the passing game.
Comment by JDFinch — March 1, 2013 @ 12:06 am
now they better keep Bowe for Alex to throw to because you know most every other team would like our #1 WR to bail out on KC and join their team. GO KC!
Comment by Devon — March 1, 2013 @ 1:54 pm
If we waited for free agency to start, someone else may have made an offer and we would have missed out.
Comment by Jeff in VA — March 1, 2013 @ 9:49 pm