Chiefs’ Alex Smith wants to stay in KC, but he’s ready for whatever looms

The Pro Bowl is meant to be a celebration of the NFL’s best players, and as such encourages a fun, laid-back atmosphere. Players enjoy cracking jokes with each other and the coaches between jogging through practice reps at Disney’s Wide World of Sports.

It’s through that upbeat lens that Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, who remains frustrated by the Chiefs’ 22-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card round on Jan. 6, managed to cover a wide swath of topics in an interview with The Star: from that disappointing end to the Chiefs’ season, to his possible future elsewhere, to how much longer he wants to play.

Smith, 33, is easily among the smartest Chiefs on the roster. So even though he’s coming off a season in which he set career-highs in passing yards (4,042), touchdowns (26) and passer rating (104.7), you don’t need to explain to him why he might be playing elsewhere in 2018.

Money matters in this league, and Smith is entering the final year of his contract with the Chiefs. He’ll have a cap number of $20.6 million, and the club stands to save $17 million by releasing or trading him. He knows the Chiefs might decide to roll with impressive youngster Patrick Mahomes as their starter this fall.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of speculation out there on what’s going to happen, what could happen,” Smith said. “I don’t think anybody totally knows.”

At the Senior Bowl on Wednesday, Chiefs coach Andy Reid expressed a certain fondness for Smith, who posted the best stat line of his career in 2017 despite the team’s decision to use two first-round picks and a third-rounder to move up and select his heir apparent in last spring’s NFL Draft.

“He finished up (as) the No. 1 quarterback in the National Football League as far as quarterback ratings go, but he was, even more than that, a tremendous leader on our team this year,” Reid said. “I just thought everything came together for him. I just that it’s a credit to him and his work ethic, his ability to shut out all the noise and to play. And so I really appreciate that from him every day, and I love him for that.”

Yet when asked about Smith’s status for 2018, Reid stopped short.

“Well, he’s a Kansas City Chief, that’s what he is,” Reid said. “Like I said, we love him and appreciate everything that he’s all about.”

A year ago, Smith learned he’d be the starter this season during his exit interview with Reid following the Chiefs’ 18-16 loss in the divisional round to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Smith said he met with Reid for this year’s exit interview the day after the loss to the Titans, but it was quick.

“We were both, obviously, extremely frustrated, bummed, to be sitting and having an exit meeting,” Smith said. “We both felt like we should still be going. It was so hard, immediately following, to even have any kind of reflection. You’re not even really sane from a mental perspective. You’re not even, really, in a healthy place to talk about anything.”

Smith said Reid told him to go enjoy the Pro Bowl, that there would be more contact when — Smith’s words here — the dust settles a little bit.

“I don’t know that this is limbo, but if this is, it (stinks),” Smith said with a laugh, when asked how he’s dealing with his uncertain status for 2018. “But the one (good) thing is knowing that you put a good product out there, you feel good about it, and you know that hopefully, if it comes to (a trade), there is some place (for you).”

If the Chiefs do opt to move Smith, would a team like Jacksonville — which reached the AFC Championship Game and could be looking to upgrade at quarterback — make a play for him? Possibly, though this year’s rookie crop is strong, and another veteran quarterback, Kirk Cousins, looms as a potential plug-and-play fit.

A more realistic option, perhaps, is Cleveland, whose current general manager, John Dorsey, already traded for Smith once and has the draft capital it would take to entice the Chiefs to make a deal.

Any trade involving Smith couldn’t be done until the first day of the new league year, which begins at 3 p.m. on March 14. And since the Chiefs won’t be giving him away, there’s always a chance he returns in 2018.

Smith said he hasn’t allowed himself to contemplate potential scenarios. But one can’t help but wonder if the 33-year-old would prefer to be dealt to a contender, and not a perennial loser. It’s worth noting that on Friday, Smith made it clear he doesn’t plan on retiring anytime soon.

Reading between the lines, that could conceivably make him more open to being traded — and signing an extension with — a struggling team in need of a quarterback, especially if Smith were to believe in that team’s vision, coaching staff and supporting cast.

“(Retirement) is not on the close horizon,” Smith said. “I know that.”

After regularly being compared to 2005 draftmate and future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers over the last 13 years, Smith has not only shed the “bust” label, he has become a good quarterback in his own right. His record as a starter (50-26), recent accolades (two straight Pro Bowl appearances) and steady statistical improvement attest to that.

“I think so, for sure,” Smith said, when asked if he thinks he has redeemed his career since his miserable days in San Francisco. “And I think even more so to myself, especially as a young player that came in and struggled early and dug myself a hole. It took me a while to get out of that, and yeah, I feel like I’m out of there.”

And the best thing, Smith said, is that he feels like he’s really just getting started.

“I feel like I’ve got a lot of ball ahead of me; I feel like I’m really young,” Smith said. “So for me, I feel like I’m just getting better and better. There’s a lot to that, obviously, and a lot of other people that go into that. But yeah, I feel like I’m having more fun than I’ve ever had. I think playing well (has something to do with) having fun.”

Now that he’s tasted success, Smith wants to continue building on it, provided his health holds up. He missed one game in 2014 with a ruptured spleen, and one in 2016 due to “head trauma.” But he has played through his share of injuries and proven to be pretty durable in Kansas City.

“I’ve been healthy, and I feel healthy, knock on wood,” Smith said.

The biggest reason Smith, who has earned approximately $106 million in his career and could comfortably afford to move on to the next chapter of his life, wants to keep playing is simply because he loves the game.

“(It’s) can you, me personally, us as a team, go do it? That challenge, week in and week out, and obviously the seasonal challenge of trying to get it done, (is fun),” Smith said. “I enjoy that, I really do.”

There’s also this: Now that Smith seems to be coming into his own as a quarterback, he wants to see how much better he can get. Long criticized for his unwillingness to stretch the field vertically, Smith in 2017 emerged as one of the league’s best deep passers.

He attributes this to former offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, who became the Chicago Bears’ head coach earlier this month, and the Chiefs’ dangerous assortment of offensive weapons.

“I think a little more of Nags’ imprint was on that, that aggressiveness, that downfield (stuff),” Smith said. “And Tyreek (Hill), really kind of continuing to develop as a receiver, doing more with (Travis) Kelce. A lot of little things.”

Posing a vertical threat is something Smith expects to keep in his game.

“I’ve been working on it for a lot of years now, continuing to throw it downfield and give guys opportunities,” he said.

Smith believes he’s a good fit for where the NFL is headed as teams incorporate more college-style spread concepts into their offense. After all, he came up through Urban Meyer’s run-pass-option heavy scheme at Utah.

“When I got drafted, I was a spread-option quarterback,” Smith said. “It was, ‘OK, you’ve got to get under center, throw to the fullback, throw to the tight end, you’ve got to learn to be a pro quarterback. And there was a learning curve there, and I did have to learn some of that.

“But the crazy thing is, it’s been 13 years now and it’s come full circle, a little bit. I really enjoy doing all the different stuff we do. I feel like it fits me, and owning that goes into who I am as a quarterback.”

If Smith had his way, he’d continue to build on that identity in Kansas City. But he’s been around long enough to know anything can happen in the NFL, especially when the salary cap comes into play.

“I hope to stay there — I love where I’m at. I love the guys, I love the situation, but who knows?” Smith said. “Obviously this is a business. I’m not going to be ignorant of anything or naive to anything.”

This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Chiefs’ Alex Smith wants to stay in KC, but he’s ready for whatever looms."