Time to move on from Alex Smith?

The Kansas City Chiefs are 1-4 and going nowhere. The previous sentence is made even more depressing and unfortunate because this group was expected to make a run toward the Super Bowl.

In the National Football League, a team’s fortunes are put squarely on the quarterback. Peyton Manning has been awful, but the Denver Broncos are 5-0. Alex Smith is statistically having a career year, but the numbers are worthless when the team is cratering.

Smith is signed through 2018, so don’t expect a new quarterback under center next season. Looking at the contract, Smith is a $17.8 million cap hit. If he is released, the cap hit climbs to $24.9 million. However, following the 2016 season, Smith could conceivably be released. The dead money would be $7.2 million, but the savings would be $9.7 million.

The question is what to do with Smith going forward? Do you play Chase Daniel and Aaron Murray the rest of this season and give those guys a chance to showcase themselves in this offense? Personally, I’m riding it out with Smith because in all likelihood, he’s the starting quarterback next year.

Come the offseason, general manager John Dorsey has a major decision to make. Does Dorsey go for broke in the 2016 NFL Draft and take a quarterback in the first round? There are likely three quarterbacks going at the top in Jared Goff, Connor Cook and Christian Hackenberg. Goff is clearly the cream of the crop, while the other two are serious question marks at this point. Is it worth the gamble?

It’s pretty obvious that Smith is not getting any better. The offensive line should shoulder plenty of the blame, but Smith doesn’t go without any. This team needs a leader, and he has been anything but.

What’s the verdict, Addicts? Is it time to move on, and if so, with who?