Hunt confirms talks with Alex Smith for new contract

[Mr. Laz]

Clark Hunt confirms Alex Smith, KC Chiefs are talking new contract
By Joel Thorman  @JoelThorman on Feb 12 2014, 7:53a 254

The owner of the Kansas City Chiefs confirmed that the team is speaking with Alex Smith's reps about a new deal.

When we last left Alex Smith, he said he wasn't sure if the Kansas City Chiefs and his reps were talking about a new contract. Now Clark Hunt confirms that, indeed, the two sides are talking about a new deal.

Hunt, who made the national media rounds during Super Bowl week, talked with Bob Fescoe and Josh Klingler on 610 Sports on Tuesday morning and there were questions about Alex Smith, who has one year left on his current contract.

But ... Hunt briefly discussed the negotiations anyway, even breaking some minor news.

"We have begun the dialogue with his representatives," he said. "Where it goes or whether it's something that gets done here in the offseason or during the season or perhaps even at the end of the season, I really don't know how that's going to play out."

This shows you that it's "when" Alex gets a new deal, no longer "if".

As far as I know, this is the first time anyone with the Chiefs have publicly confirmed that they are talking with Alex's camp about a new long-term deal. And, by the way, Hunt indicated that long-term, to him, means 3-5 years, which is about what we thought.

Hunt left the door wide open as to when this deal could get done. He mentioned this offseason, during next season or even at the end of next season. That's quite the range, which suggests that they're not very far into this negotiation process.

I'm as anxious as anyone to find out what those numbers will look like. We don't have any idea what kind of deal they're talking about. $12 million per year? $17 million? Bueller?

Alex Smith's stats, the trade, his Pro Bowl appearance, all the wins, playing his best in the playoffs ... he has a lot going for him, which all adds up to large numbers on a contract. Add in the fact that quarterbacks are just really expensive to begin with and there are reasons to believe this will get very pricey.

On the flip side, Alex Smith isn't Aaron Rodgers, out there winning games on his own. Everyone thinks paying Jay Cutler $100+ million is insane and many people will think it's crazy to do the same to Alex.

I guess what I'm saying here is that I don't know how this thing will go. I will predict, however, that this negotiation will not get contentious and it will not be filled with leaks. We shall wait.

H/T Chiefs Spin

http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2014/2...efs-clark-hunt

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by Sannyasi

I still think it makes a certain amount of sense to wait another year before going down this road. A higher sample size of games is going to lead to a more accurate gauge of his production in this offense, which will result in a more fair contract for both sides.

It makes sense to do it now if upper management feels he's on the verge of having a breakout season. Alex was hand-picked by Andy so I'm assuming they feel he is.

If we sign him to a deal for 13-15 /year and he breaks out this season, we will have avoided having to negotiate the deal later in which he could be looking for upwards of 18 /year.

Of course, I have no idea what actual numbers they're throwing around but the difference between inking a contract now and after a breakout season would be significant.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

It makes sense to do it now if upper management feels he's on the verge of having a breakout season. Alex was hand-picked by Andy so I'm assuming they feel he is.

If we sign him to a deal for 13-15 /year and he breaks out this season, we will have avoided having to negotiate the deal later in which he could be looking for upwards of 18 /year.

Of course, I have no idea what actual numbers they're throwing around but the difference between inking a contract now and after a breakout season would be significant.

If they are going to push for more offensive weapons this offseason then the price might go up quite a bit.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by BWillie

You want to pay him for Five years for just as much?

You think they're going to give him a contract that pays 16 million a year? Gtfo of here.

[TripleThreat]

I like alex smith, I think the guy is a baller. That being said, I really would like to see us wait till next year to extend him just to make sure he can repeat. Not saying he cant, but I think waiting imo is a better idea. Unless our front office has 100% decided we are going the next decade with smith I think the latter is the better option. I don't think waiting hurts his ego either, plenty of teams wait till there stars contract years like Brees and Cutler. Brees was almost franchise tagged remember??

Lets wait till next year, who knows it may benefit alex by waiting if he wins us the superbowl next year and if that happens I dgaf what we pay. Winning a superbowl in 5-10 years is hard enough as it is, ask the 20+ teams who haven't been there in a decade (;

[cdcox]

Originally Posted by Jakemall

If he plays consistently at the level he played at against Indy, how much growth does he need vs consistency in playing that way?

Not saying he shouldn't or won't get better.

I love how people take his career best game and project that as his new norm.

After Schaub's game against Jacksonville last season, did you expect him to have an 8000 yard passing season?

[TripleThreat]

Originally Posted by cdcox

I love how people take his career best game and project that as his new norm.

After Schaub's game against Jacksonville last season, did you expect him to have an 8000 yard passing season?

Uhm? you should re-read the quote u quoted.... he's saying if he DID play at that level game in and game out how much change would he really need? Hes not saying that he normally plays like that.. ???

[cdcox]

Originally Posted by TripleThreat

Uhm? you should re-read the quote u quoted.... he's saying if he DID play at that level game in and game out how much change would he really need? Hes not saying that he normally plays like that.. ???

It is unreasonable to expect him to play at that level on a consistent basis. No one expects him to throw for 6000 yards and 60+ TDs with no interceptions over the course of the season. If no one expects that, don't make it the basis of an argument that he is already good enough.

[stonedstooge]

Do they still tie incentives into players contracts?

[TripleThreat]

Originally Posted by cdcox

It is unreasonable to expect him to play at that level on a consistent basis. No one expects him to throw for 6000 yards and 60+ TDs with no interceptions over the course of the season. If no one expects that, don't make it the basis of an argument that he is already good enough.

I don't think anyone is or should be expecting him to play at that level every game.. if he does then he is going to be better than peyton manning and Tom brady (in the stats column) and hold every record in passing for the next 250years..

[arrowheadnation]

I was against this mother ****er from the beginning, but we have to roll with him now. Let's get him some actual receivers and see what the **** he can do.

[InChiefsHeaven]

That was a beautiful pass on a rail under pressure right in the bread basket. No wobble. Manning doesn't make that throw. At least, not that pretty.

I don't know what that means, but it's certainly not a run of the mill play.

But I'm a Chiefs fan. So there's that...

[Ragged Robin]

Originally Posted by arrowheadnation

I was against this mother ****er from the beginning, but we have to roll with him now. Let's get him some actual receivers and see what the **** he can do.

We've seen what he can do. Were you not watching during the playoffs?

[mcaj22]

let's get an actual defense and then see what Alex Smith can do

[BossChief]

Here is my logical prediction for his contract amount...

6 years, 90 million with 43 million guaranteed all in the first 3 years.

I say that because it seems that the guaranteed money for these new quarterback deals seems to be based pretty closely on te amount that consecutive franchise tags would cost (with a little discount given from the players side, but not much)...but Alex isn't negotiating without a current contract to figure in...he is still under contract in 2014 for 7.5 million.

In any contract negotiation, both sides propose what they want and do their best to back their sides argument with relative value of other players from similar situations.

In 2014, the franchise tag for quarterbacks is 16.2 million...so a similar figure should be expected for 2015. When you tag a player a second time, the amount is 120% of the last tag amount. If a player is tagged a third time, he gets 144% of the initial tag amount.

So Tom Condon is probably asking for the full amount of what Alex would get if he was on the tag for 2 years after the 7.5 next year...in guaranteed money.

7.5
16.2
19.3
--------
43 million

That's gonna be damn close to the guaranteed amount, IMO.

In most of these deals Condon has worked for his other clients (Matt Ryan, Tony Romo, Matt Stafford, etc) the guaranteed money was just about half the total amount of the contract.

6 years, 90 million....43 million guaranteed all in the first 3 years.

That's my educated guess.

If we were to wait, I'd bet almost anything the deal would be almost identical to Cutlers deal...probably more.

[RobBlake]

Smith is 100% a team guy and this dude has been paid BIG time when rookie QBs/number one picks still got paid mega millions. He will take a honest contract while leaving room for playmakers.. bank it