Alex Smith’s future with Chiefs a ‘football decision,’ says Clark Hunt

Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said Sunday that the future of quarterback Alex Smith with the team will be “purely a football decision.”

Smith has one year left on a contract that will pay him $17 million next season. The Chiefs could save that amount against the salary cap next year by trading him after this season, and they have their quarterback of the future — 2017 first-round draft pick Patrick Mahomes — on the roster.

But Hunt’s praise of Smith, expressed to a group of reporters outside the Chiefs’ locker room before their game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, could not have been higher.

“I can’t speak highly enough of the year Alex is having, the way he’s played, the way he’s leading the team,” Hunt said. “He’s really doing a great job for us.”

Smith entered Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys leading the NFL in quarterback rating and is the third quarterback in NFL history to open a season with at least 16 touchdowns and zero interceptions.

This story was originally published November 5, 2017 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Alex Smith’s future with Chiefs a ‘football decision,’ says Clark Hunt."