Turns out smoke = fire. While the deal will not be completed
officially until the NFL’s new league year begins on March 12, FOX Sports’ Jay
Glazer reports the San Francisco 49ers have agreed to send quarterback Alex
Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The price? Kansas City’s second-round pick in 2013 – number 33
overall – and a “similar pick” in next year’s draft.
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It’s a steep price to pay for a soon-to-be 29-year-old quarterback
with 1.5 good seasons out of eight. The first-overall selection in’05 has shown
a quite a bit of improvement since head coach Jim Harbaugh brought stability to
the 49ers’ organization. Now he’ll have be starting over with the Chiefs, whose
best playmaker (Dwayne Bowe) is set to become a free agent.
For the Eagles, it means a much more limited trade market
for Nick Foles, if there is one anymore at all. Foles would be worth more to head
coach Andy Reid than anyone else. Unless Foles can fetch a high second-round
pick, the Eagles will probably just as soon hang on to him.
Meanwhile, the rich keep getting richer. The 49ers are in
great shape with Colin Kaepernick as their starting QB for years to come, and check
out how loaded they are with draft picks this April. They are going to be a
tough out in the NFC for years to come.