Sean Smith has been a legit number one NFL cornerback the past two seasons in Kansas City. While rookie sensation Marcus Peters grabbed all the headlines this year with all the big plays he made, it was Smith that played at a consistently high level. That is why quarterbacks often chose to challenge the inexperienced Peters than throw at Smith who was rarely out of position. While that sounds like a solid case for KC re-signing Smith, the problem is that both Smith and his agent are also aware of just how well he has played.
Smith doesn’t have any long standing ties to Kansas City. He isn’t from the area. He wasn’t drafted by the Chiefs. He may like playing in KC, but he doesn’t strike me as a guy that is going to take a “home town discount”. In short, Smith is going to be looking to get PAID. All reports that I’ve seen/heard say the same thing…..Smith wants to be paid like a top cornerback.
The Kansas City Chiefs should not be the team to give Smith that big contract. Smith would make me nervous with a huge long term contract for a couple of reasons. One, he has a little bit of a Dwayne Bowe-esque knucklehead side to him. His DUI suspension this season is the most glaring example. If you give a player a big long term contract you want to feel 100% confident about it. If you compare Smith to say…Eric Berry who would you be more confident would give his absolute best effort throughout the length of the contract?……That’s what I thought.
Second, I worry about a 6-foot-3 and 218-pound cornerback losing a step as he approaches age 30. A corner only has to lose a little bit of speed and suddenly they can become a liability against fast receivers. The Chiefs often put their corners on an island on the outside and if you pay a corner top dollar you shouldn’t have to always give him safety support over the top.
The other reason I believe that the Chiefs need to let Smith move on is how much they have invested in other cornerbacks in the draft. We obviously all know about how great Marcus Peters is, but there is also Phillip Gaines and Steven Nelson. Those three players represent 50 percent of the Chiefs first through third round draft picks in the previous two drafts. When you have invested in the draft that heavily at a position you don’t go out and make your major free agent signing at that same position. Especially when it appears that one of those three players has a good chance to be one of the best in the league at that position.
Now on to Jaye Howard….
Next: Why KC should let Jaye Howard walk