Alex Smith is proving himself to be a most valuable asset

The Kansas City Chiefs are the only remaining undefeated team in the NFL, and Alex Smith is a big reason why. He’s proving to be a most valuable asset…

The Kansas City Chiefs are undefeated this season, the only remaining team in the league without a loss. Alex Smith is probably the main reason why at this point, proving himself to be a valuable asset.

In fact, Smith may be proving himself to be one of the most valuable players in the entire league, something he hasn’t necessarily done up to this point in his NFL career.

The crew on NFL Network’s hit show Good Morning Football made some great points when discussing Alex Smith on Tuesday after the Chiefs’ win over the Washington Redskins.

They noted that this guy is a different player than he’s been throughout his career.

Smith is not only managing games well, he’s doing more with less at his disposal, at least on paper.

The Chiefs have a breakout star at running back in Kareem Hunt, but Smith has played with (healthy) Jamaal Charles before, so it’s not like that’s anything new. The Chiefs have a star tight end in Travis Kelce, but Smith used to throw passes to Vernon Davis in his prime, so that’s also nothing new to him.

Kansas City surprisingly released Jeremy Maclin this past offseason, leaving the Chiefs with Tyreek Hill, Albert Wilson, and Chris Conley among others at the receiver position.

Smith has certainly played with better receivers in the past.

The supporting cast for Smith is playing to its highest potential, but Smith is showing a level of comfortability this season that we haven’t seen in the past. Perhaps most importantly, he’s showing a level of confidence in himself that is unlike anything we have seen, and that was evidenced on the Chiefs’ game-winning drive at the end of regulation on Monday night.

Smith, under pressure, rolled out to his right and made a tough throw on the run to the aforementioned Wilson, who made a great catch near the sideline to put the Chiefs in (or close to) field goal range.

It was a stellar play by Smith on the move to get the ball that far downfield to his receiver, and put the throw on the money to essentially kill the Redskins’ hopes of getting a big stop and forcing the game into overtime.

It was the proverbial ‘dagger’ that Smith is not usually one to apply, but he’s been lights out this season. Look at the numbers:

Alex Smith has played like a man possessed in 2017. #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/Hy3mFM8QuY
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) October 3, 2017

Perhaps the Chiefs’ huge investment in Patrick Mahomes was a wake-up call for Smith in a way. That move has potentially pushed Smith past the stigma of ‘game manager’ into ‘MVP caliber’, at least from what we’ve seen through the first four games.

As we discussed this offseason, it raises an interesting question of whether or not the Chiefs will decide to move on from Smith at the end of the season. He’s counting $20 million against the cap in 2018, and with some of the contracts the Chiefs have elsewhere on the roster, it’s not a certainty they’ll even be able to afford that.

They can cut or trade Smith with a pretty minimal cap penalty, and that doesn’t seem too unlikely at this point, depending on how the rest of the season shakes out.

The way Smith is playing right now, the Chiefs will have some options. They can either choose to keep him on the roster next season and let him finish out his contract before we see Mahomes as the starter, or they can trade him at an even higher value with which they originally got him back in 2013.

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Smith was acquired at a discounted price back then because the San Francisco 49ers had a young quarterback who had proven himself on the field, and the writing was really on the wall for Smith. The Chiefs don’t have to get rid of Smith, because he’s proven on the field and Mahomes is not at this point.

What the Chiefs could do if they really wanted is recoup their first round draft pick in 2018 and definitely more than that from a team like Jacksonville, who is desperate for a player like Smith to come in and boost their Super Bowl hopes.

Would the Chiefs do that, knowing they might take a step back as a team with a first-year starter at quarterback?

If this is an audition for Smith as far as 2018 is concerned, it’s going to be really tough for the Chiefs to justify getting rid of him, even at the price he would command in a trade and with the talent behind him on the roster in Mahomes.

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