[Sassy Squatch]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Eh - depends.

Unlike Pioli, Reid and Dorsey don't seem clearly married to Smith. They've been extremely smart to have him play this season under his old contract. If he struggles or is even a mediocre QB, I think you'll see them quickly start to move away from him as a long-term option.

Pioli was going to come in and put his stamp on this organization, by God. And his very first move was Cassel - he needed to make Cassel a success and was going to do everything in his power to ensure it happened. Reid, on the other hand, has a long track record of performance in this league. It's not all sunshine and roses, but he has cache that Pioli/Haley/Fat**** never had.

He can cut bait on Alex Smith and it won't damage his credibility all that much. As such, if Smith struggles this year, they'll give him 2014 to prove just exactly what he is and if he's not the man, well they'll either like where Bray has gone or I genuinely think they'll turn to a 1st rounder type at QB.

So either Smith will perform admirably (90ish QB rating; 2.5-1 TD/IN ratio and 3500+ yds or so) or we'll go after a first round QB. I can live with either of those eventualities.

But we didn't try this year!!!!!!!!!!!