Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith may never be the most physically gifted player on an NFL field, but he's got enough grit, moxie and veteran savvy to produce enough points to keep the Chiefs in the game on pretty much any given Sunday.
While Smith has enjoyed something of a career resurgence under Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, the successes the two men have enjoyed together may actually serve to shorten Smith's tenure in the end.
"Expectations have risen since Smith and Kansas City had a huge turnaround to reach the postseason in 2013, Reid's first season there, and Smith's big contract mandates he'll be around for a few more years," writes Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. "But watching back-up Chase Daniel scampering around and making big plays in a Week 17 win over San Diego, one that eliminated the Chargers from the playoffs, had my wheels turning at least a bit and I wouldn't be shocked to see this franchise looking at quarterbacks in the higher rounds a year from now."
The 31-year-old Smith is entering the second year of a four-year, $68 million contract extension. His dead cap hit for next season is $40.4 million and $24.9 million in 2016, meaning Smith will remain with the team for at least the next two years.
Beyond that, his cap hits for the final two years of the deal are $16.9 million and $20.6 million, but cutting him would cause the Chiefs to incur dead cap penalties of just $7.2 million in 2017 and $3.6 million in 2018.
In 2014, his second season in Kansas City, Smith threw for 3,265 yards on 303 completions for 18 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 93.4 quarterback rating.
Smith is dependable and smart and if the Chiefs boast a strong enough running game with Jamaal Charles, De'Anthony Thomas and Knile Davis, he can certainly manage Kansas City into the playoffs.
Winning a postseason game seems a questionable proposition though, for a quarterback who struggles to push the ball downfield and managed to go all of 2014 without connecting with a single one of his wide receivers for a touchdown.
With the addition of Jeremy Maclin in free agency and the drafting of Chris Conley - and when considering simple percentages - it's highly unlikely Smith will manage to let another full NFL season pass without tossing a touchdown to a wideout.
Still, Smith is and will always be limited as a signal-caller - even if he brings the Chiefs to the postseason again after just missing out in 2014, if he and Reid are unable to bring fans in Kansas City a playoff victory, consistently strong regular season efforts are going to start seeming hollow and altogether empty.
This isn't to suggest that Smith and the Chiefs can't make their way into the postseason and emerge victorious from a contest or two, but this is a quarterback and offense driven NFL and Smith simply will never be able to contend with the league's elite like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers or Andrew Luck.
It may not be a first-round pick and it likely won't come next season, but Reid and the Chiefs will be forced to look for another long-term answer at quarterback at some point because Smith, as strong as he's been since joining Kansas City, is not a Super Bowl-winning signal-caller and Daniels, despite the strong showing to end last season, doesn't seem to be the answer either.
