[Floridafan]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Manning made more foolish decisions and more poor throws in that game than Smith. Smith gets blistered for his endzone throw meanwhile everyone ignored Manning essentially handing us the ball at the 20 on that wounded duck he flipped up for Cooper. Additionally, Manning's guys actually caught the damn ball and he was throwing to Decker, who had nobody within 5 yards of him on most plays. Though I'll concede that his aggregate numbers in Denver weren't great, he really played very well in the 2nd half (though yes, a 'few drops' would've made a world of difference in that game).

What he was in San Fransisco and now here is better than what we're 80% likely to get. And if we don't have that yet, why let him get away? There's nothing to be gained by letting go of the first branch before you've grabbed the next.

I like the idea of planning for a future without Alex Smith, but Alex Smith is part of that plan. I'm not okay with just falling to hell and losing 12 games/season while we watch a legitimate HoF talent at RB waste away. I'm not okay with pissing away the remainder of the careers of two of the best Chiefs you'll ever see in Hali and DJ.

We have to keep this team healthy in the short term while building for the long. Alex Smith does that. It fosters a winning culture again. It gets us closer to the Broncos than the Jaguars (and bad news, kiddos - the rest of the NFL had us squarely in that 'well there's a W' category with the Jags, Bucs, Raiders and the rest of the NFL swill).

If you want to wait until after the draft to approach Smith - fine. But if his representatives were to approach us immediately following the end of the season with a reasonable proposal that keeps him here for 3-4 years on terms that are similar to these (with adjustments for increases in the cap), I'd take it right then.

The plan can include Alex Smith; that doesn't mean the plan is Alex Smith.

Excellent post, well thought out.