Does Alex Smith deserve a extension after this season?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by cdcox

Contracts in the $20M range cause teams to dump talent and saddle the team unless the QB is truly elite.

A contract at $9-12 M/year probably only allows us to keep the status quo. And I'd rather take my chances elsewhere than settle for a few years of feel good football without a real chance for a Superbowl.

I'd feel better at $8 M per year, which is where he's at now. No one thinks we are going to win the SB this year, so that means we still need to add talent to this team if we are building toward a championship. Alex only makes sense if he is cheap enough that we can keep elite talent on both sides of the ball around him.

If the cap increases as expected, Smith at 9-12 million/yr is cheap enough to keep elite talent on both sides of the ball around him.

That's really my point - nobody thinks Smith is an elite guy; a guy that makes all his teammates better. But I think we've established that he can win and win big with a good team. If he's making 'game manager' money, then it makes sense to keep him because we can surround him with that good team.

And for the record, but/for the fact that Peyton Manning is a !@#$ing quarterbacking robot, I would absolutely believe that this team can win a Super Bowl, or at least get to one.

So let's say we extend Smith for 4 years/$40 million - in 2 years, Manning's gone and this team has a clear path to the AFCW.

"take my chances elsewhere...."

With what? Who? You want to let the guy leave after 2014 and spin the wheel on Bray?

I think Chiefs fans suddenly got really spoiled by a competent quarterback and just assume everyone has one. Folks - 1/2 the NFL is woefully inadequate at the QB position. I have no interest in re-joining those ranks.

We can win with Smith. We don't have a clear replacement for him. Go ahead and keep looking for young ones, but if you give Smith an extension that takes him through 2016/2017, you have plenty of time to find that young one without falling back into the abyss of shit we were just in.