Chiefs QB Alex Smith Is Running Out Of Patience In Contract Talks
By Ben Nielsen
Things are starting to get down to crunch time for the Chiefs and Alex Smith. Smith talked to Kansas City Star beat writer Terez A. Paylor after practice on Wednesday and voiced some thoughts on the direction – or maybe lack of direction – of his contract dispute with the team.
The quotes in question:
#Chiefs QB Alex Smith on his contract talks: “You're getting to the point where either way, you want it to stop being a distraction.”
— RIP Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) July 30, 2014
Smith: “You're finally gonna cross a line where it's like, it's just football from here on out…"
— RIP Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) July 30, 2014
Smith: “...and I'm done not only talking about it with you guys, but even behind the scenes as well.” Says that point hasn’t come yet though
— RIP Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) July 30, 2014
It would seem pretty evident from these quotes that Smith is ready to put these contract questions to rest, and who would blame him? Smith needs a commitment or at least an understanding of where he stands with the team. The longer these questions keep getting asked, the more it begins to cause issues with the team.
Moving soon on a Smith extension would be in the best interest of the Chiefs if extending him is what they want to do. Smith is only going to become more expensive the closer he gets to free agency and the Chiefs don’t want to have to overpay him anymore than what they are going to have to as it stands now. Franchising him would kill the Chiefs cap for next season, which is already on life support as it is, and trading more picks for a reasonable quarterback is probably not the best direction for the Chiefs either.
We discussed earlier today that John Dorsey could be waiting to see how some of the positional battles play out before he inks Smith and Houston. This may be the smartest plan for the Chiefs if they can convince Houston and Smith to hang on for another month. Risking injury in training camp and the preseason cannot be a comfortable thing for Houston and Smith but it probably the risk that gets them the payday they are asking for. One can understand why Smith could be running out of patience but also say he’s not at the tipping point yet.
But it does seem clear Smith wants to get something done sooner than later. If not, he may choose to test free agency as oppose to negotiating with the Chiefs in the offseason.