NFL Trade Rumors: Multiple Teams Interested in Alex Smith

Last year’s NFL season may not have played out exactly the way Alex Smith planned or hoped, but the good news is he’s a hot commodity again, just not with the organization he currently plays for.

After being benched (despite great numbers) in favor of Colin Kaepernick in the second half of last season, Alex Smith is not needed in San Francisco anymore, but he’s in high demand from a number of teams that need a capable starter at the quarterback position. ESPN.com is reporting that the Niners are currently engaged in trade talks with several interested teams, including the Arizona Cardinals and the Kansas City Chiefs.

With Smith on the trading block, San Francisco will simply look for the best deal as they attempt to get the most out of their former star and fortunately for them, teams like Arizona and Kansas City will likely be willing to give up a lot. They both failed to get any sort of production from their quarterbacks and both finished near the bottom of the league’s standings in 2012 – in the Chiefs case, they did finish at the bottom.

However, if you are in San Francisco’s position, one thing you have to consider is the fact that Arizona is in your own division and you’ll have to play them twice per year. Smith is still a very solid player and you wouldn’t neccessarily want to face him more than you have to. And you certainly wouldn’t want to bulk up a team that plays you twice a year and could potentially snatch the division title from you.

Considering the Niners might not want to ship him to Arizona and considering the Chiefs will likely pursue Smith the hardest, he may be headed to Kansas City as soon as March 12 arrives, which is the date the new season officially begins and trades will be allowed. Of course, we can’t stress enough that there is no deal in place yet. This is simply speculation.

But this speculation is based on the fact that the Chiefs have already said they will likely release Matt Cassel, who has severely underachieved during the past couple of seasons. It’s also based on the fact that new Kansas City head coach Andy Reid had courted Smith last offseason when he became a free agent, but Smith decided to stay with the Niners. However, we know that Reid likes him and more importantly, needs him this season.

And if the Chiefs do land Smith in a trade, that means they’ll be able to use their first overall pick in this year’s draft to plug another leak in their roster. If they don’t, they’ll likely have to use that pick to draft a QB and it’s no secret that this is not the best year for quarterbacks coming into the league. Matt Barkley and Geno Smith are probably the best, but each of their stocks decreased severely at the end of last season with their individual, and their teams’ poor performances.

With 50/1 odds to win the Super Bowl in 2014, the Chiefs certainly need all the help they can get. Would aqcuiring Alex Smith solve all their problems? Of course not. But landing a solid quarterback would be another step in the right direction.