NFL

Alex Smith Has Been Traded To The Kansas City Chiefs

Alex Smith will reportedly be traded to the Kansas City Chiefs on March 12, when the NFL begins to allow official trades. Jim Harbaugh committed to Colin Kaepernick as the franchise quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, so we all knew this was coming.

Since the deal isn’t official, we’re unsure of the compensation. But here are some ideas (UPDATE: more ideas! CBS’ Jason La Canfora said the Niners’ maximum haul would be two second-rounders depending on the Chiefs’ 2013 performance – they get the Chiefs’ second-rounder this season for sure – while Adam Schefter reported that the 2014 pick is a “conditional mid-round” selection. As you were.):

An NFL source says that the framework of the deal is that the 49ers will get a No. 2 pick this year and a similar pick in the 2014 draft.

— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) February 27, 2013

1 GM told me Alex Smith compensation would be at least a 2nd (nfl.com/news/story/0ap…) if team felt it was more than a 1-yr commitment. It is

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 27, 2013

execs i spoke to at combine said they thought, b/c kc was the only player, that compensation would be a conditional mid-round pick.

— Jim Trotter (@SI_JimTrotter) February 27, 2013

It’s an interesting move for the Chiefs, who will now almost certainly not select Geno Smith or another quarterback with the first pick in the draft. We’ll soon find out if Harbaugh is a trade wizard — the Chiefs already fell for one team’s expendable quarterback in Matt Cassel — or if Smith can make KC relevant again.

This reeks of Cassell/Kevin Kolb, but the Chiefs do have a semblance of a roster, so if the passing game can go from hideous to mediocre, they might be on to something.

h/t SportsCenter