Kansas City Chiefs: Alex Smith isn't going anywhere yet

Despite all the recent talk about trading Alex Smith, the Kansas City Chiefs will most likely be holding on to their starting quarterback for one more year.

It’s interesting how an idea can catch hold and become a major topic of conversation. That’s the case with the Kansas City Chiefs and their quarterback situation. Recently, there have been two articles that have led to how the Chiefs could trade Alex Smith. While it’s fun conjecture, there is absolutely no indication that Kansas City is considering this.

The first post came from Marc Sessler at NFL.com, proposing a trade that would send Bills linebacker Reggie Ragland to Kansas City. There wasn’t any compensation talked about in this trade. All it really did was set the table. From a strategic point of view, it may be something for the Chiefs to consider, depending on how they feel about their current linebackers.

What really set things off though was an article from SB Nation’s Jaguars blog, Big Cat Country. In this article, Alex Smith was listed as the top option for Jacksonville to target as a replacement for Blake Bortles. That got the ball moving, and everything spiraled out of control from there.

With another poor preseason performance from Blake Bortles, this topic has just picked up more steam. It is now getting some serious national attention, even though there hasn’t been any report suggesting the possibility. In fact, a new report is out where the Chiefs are denying even considering this.

What would it take for Chiefs to be willing to trade Alex Smith to Jags? Worth it to Jags to do it?
— Ross Tucker (@RossTuckerNFL) August 18, 2017

Doesn’t Make Sense Now

Many Kansas City Chiefs fans, and national pundits, will immediately jump all over this. For those Chiefs fans, this is all about starting the Patrick Mahomes era. For the national pundits, this is a huge story that will get some great coverage. However, that doesn’t show why the Chiefs should consider this move.

In truth, the Chiefs have been telling us almost exactly what they intend to do for quite a while now. From the moment the team drafted Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City leadership has been clear that he will sit and learn this year. Alex Smith remains the starter and will keep the job in 2017. That is the plan, and they need to stick to it.

We all knew that Patrick Mahomes was going to require some work this year. The Chiefs have not given us any indication that this has changed. With the roster they have assembled for this year, there is absolutely no reason to risk things by going with an unproven rookie quarterback. The situation is working out just about perfectly for the KC.

On top of that, it makes a lot more sense for the Chiefs to try and exploit the 2018 quarterback market. There are a lot of teams that will be looking for an answer at quaterback, and KC may have one to spare then. If Alex Smith has a solid 2017 season, his trade value will be much higher then. That’s a much more sound strategy.

First Game Hype Train

Of course, where a lot of this new hysteria is coming from is Patrick Mahomes and his first preseason showing. Mahomes looked solid in his first action as a Chiefs quarterback. However, that was less than a full half, in a preseason game, against a third-string defense. The hype train should probably be applying some brakes right now.

Kansas City Chiefs: Alex Smith Isn’t Going Anywhere Yet

By Ben Almquist | Aug 18, 2017

Despite all the recent talk about trading Alex Smith, the Kansas City Chiefs will most likely be holding on to their starting quarterback for one more year.

Doesn’t Make Sense Now

First Game Hype Train