Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Kansas City Chiefs fans, on the whole, don’t appear to be too happy about the news yesterday that the team plans to trade for 49ers QB Alex Smith.
But that doesn’t mean Smith’s new teammates don’t like the idea.
Right tackle Eric Winston, who has never been shy of expressing himself to the media, weighed in on the trade yesterday via the USA Today.
“It’s about winning,” Winston said. “Alex is a guy who’s been there and has what it takes. Alex can beat you a lot of different ways. He’s a lot more athletic than people give him credit for. It’s an exciting time with all the new people coming in. It was definitely a change of direction the organization felt we needed to go in.”
Winston also touched briefly on the future of his teammate, QB Matt Cassel.
“I have a friendship with Matt Cassel. Obviously, you had the sense they were probably going to go in a different direction just because of the totality of all that’s happened. But at the same time, you realize it’s going to cost some of your friends their jobs,” Winston said. “Obviously, the organization wanted to bring in new blood. You know that going in. You know everybody is up for review and that’s just how it is. For me, it’s personally bittersweet because I believe in Matt. I think Cassel can get it done. Maybe it will be a great change for him and he can go somewhere else where he can get a fresh start as well.”
It is nice for Winston to speak up for Cassel. The fact of the matter is, Cassel hasn’t gotten it done.
Unfortunately, despite his recent success, a great number of Chiefs fans seem to think Alex Smith’s Chiefs career will end the same way as Cassel’s.
In failure.