It appears that all the speculation from last weekend about where San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith was going has panned out. ESPN has confirmed that Smith, who was the No. 1 draft pick in 2005, will be traded to the Chiefs when the trade window opens on March 12.
The Chiefs, who have the first overall pick in this year's draft, are sending San Francisco a second-round pick (No. 34 overall) and a later conditional pick. Smith, 28, is due $8.5 million in guaranteed money for the upcoming season. The quarterback was having a strong season in 2012, including a memorable October Monday Night Football performance in which he completed 26 of 28 passes, before being sidelined with concussion problems.
Smith's backup, Colin Kaepernick, stole the show in San Francisco in his replacement role. He led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in February. The team was defeated by the Baltimore Ravens.
ESPN also reports that now that the Chiefs have the quarterback they want, they'll release former starter Matt Cassel, whose performance was anemic at best during the 2012 season. The Chiefs finished the year 2-12 and fired head coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Scott Pioli. The team has been very busy this offseason. They hired former longtime Eagles coach Andy Reid and former Packers personnel guy John Dorsey in January. The NFL draft starts April 25.
