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What Alex Smith will Kansas City get? 

The 49ers have announced they have traded former first overall pick and current backup quarterback Alex Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs for two second round picks, one this year and one the next, according to Jeff Reynolds of CBSsports.com. There are a few thoughts I have on this, like…

• Alex Smith for TWO second round picks!? Washington must be drooling with the potential offers they’ll get for Kirk Cousins next offseason.
• The Chiefs haven’t drafted a quarterback that’s won them a game since Todd Blackledge “beat” (I put “beat” in quotes because of his 6-of-15 for 79 yards and one interception stat line) the Chargers 20-13 in September of 1987. This year, the Chiefs have the top overall pick with a real chance to develop a young star… So naturally they have passed up on that possibility. We’re going to look back at the day Kansas City traded Alex Smith and passed up on Geno Smith as a foolish one.
• With that being said, you'd have to like Smith's prospects at being at least a little successful, right? He’s got a solid running game and a go-to target in Dwayne Bowe, assuming they resign him. The biggest question is, are we going to see the Alex Smith from the pre or post-Harbaugh area? Last season Smith was on pace for about 3,200 yards passing, 23 touchdowns, about eight-to-ten interceptions, and a 70 percent completion percentage-- solid numbers by all means. It should also be noted Smith has only played in 16 games twice in his seven year career.
• San Francisco now has 15 picks in the upcoming draft, making them suspects in any rumored big trades… I’m looking at you Darrelle Revis and Percy Harvin. Does anybody need to see the Super Bowl tape of Anquan Boldin against that secondary? Also, don’t rule out San Fran trading up into the top 15 (San Diego at eleven?) for a defensive tackle.

The cap-strapped Jets cannot afford Darrelle Revis, but do the
Jets truly need him?

The New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers are reportedly talking about working out a deal for Darrelle Revis, the best cornerback in the NFL, according to Yahoo! Sports. Obviously the Jets would like to keep a player with the talent of Revis but, I mean, c’mon, you can’t pay a cornerback $16 million dollars a year when you have as many holes to fill as the Jets. Trading Revis would allow the Jets to free up money to possibly bring back safety Laron Landry and were the second-best ranked pass defense even with Revis playing two-and-a-quarter games this year and Kyle “where’s the ball?” Wilson stepping in as the second corner. Could the Jets get a one and a three plus a position player from the Niners? I think so.

Meanwhile, things are getting more and more optimistic in New England. Tom Brady has signed an extension through 2017 guaranteeing him $57 million dollars in that span, kind of similar to what the Jets did with Mark Sanchez last year. Brady saved the Patriots nearly $15 million dollars and it’s easy to speculate that that money will go right towards getting Wes Welker and Aqib Talib new contracts.

It was announced today that Pittsburgh has restructured the contract of stud linebacker Lawrence Timmons, the best linebacker on their roster. Like a lot of the restructures, Timmons will get nearly all of his money up-front and guaranteed. Pittsburgh was roughly twenty million dollars over the cap to start the week and this move save them five million dollars. The Steelers, facing one of their most important offseasons in recent memory, will more than likely ask quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, safety Troy Polamalu, and linebacker James Harrison to restructure their deals too. If Harrison refuses to, it wouldn’t surprise anybody if he’s cut.

Manti Te'o didn't help himself with a 4.82-40. 

Pittsburgh will also meet with wide receiver and Pittsburgh native Steve Breaston this week, who was released by Kansas City last week. Besides Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Minnesota, and Dallas all have interest in Breaston.

Other notes: As everyone knows, the NFL combine has taken place over the course of this past week. A lot of noise has been made about Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o who has been underwhelming in just about everything. I think he goes in the mid-second round… The Jets and Brady Quinn are close to a deal… Miami and Greg Jennings made a lot of sense until the news that leaked this week that Jennings and current Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin might not have the best relationship... Gil Brandt of NFL.com has Oakland taking West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith with the third overall pick in his last mock draft… Former LSU defensive back and Heisman finalist Tyrann Mathieu apparently performed pretty well in Indianapolis… The NFL will investigate Colorado tight end Nick Kasa’s claim that a team asked him about his sexual orientation. 

--Chris Cappella

--@C_Cappella