Smith to Chiefs: Reaction to Kansas City's Acquisition of Alex Smith

The biggest news thus far in the 2013 NFL off-season has nothing to do with contract negotiations, franchise tags and college prospects at the Combine. No, instead it's all about the first major trade of the 2013 season: Alex Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs.

On Wednesday, the NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers agreed to trade backup quarterback Alex Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for its 2nd round pick in this year's draft and a conditional mid-round pick in 2014.

Though the trade will not be made official until the beginning of the new league year on March 12, the deal is all but done.

With new head coach Andy Reid taking over the reins in Kansas City, it's fitting that the franchise starts over with a new quarterback under center. The former No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft revitalized his doomed career by carrying the Niners offense to the NFC Championship in 2011. Smith entered 2012 with high hopes, but a concussion suffered against St. Louis in early November ended his campaign.

Second-year quarterback Colin Kaepernick took over the job while Smith sat out, and the rest is history. The 25-year old Kaepernick used both his arm and his legs to take the Niners all the way to the Super Bowl in just his second season in the league.

Smith seemingly lost his job unfairly to the younger Colin, but that's just how this league works. You get hurt, sit out a couple games and risk losing your job to someone who does it better. It's tough to say whether the 49ers still could have made the Super Bowl with Smith under center all season (I vote no), but either way Kaepernick did what he had to do to stay the starter.

That's why it didn't take long for Smith to find a new job. The Niners knew he wouldn't be happy sitting on the bench and that there would be other teams willing to make a move for him. Reid wanted his own quarterback as he begins a new era in Kansas City, and he was willing to give up a couple of draft picks to accomplish this.

I personally believe this was a great move for both sides. Kansas City gets its franchise quarterback who, by the way, is still only 28. So he could give the Chiefs a good 5-6 years. But also the Niners get a couple of picks for a guy who would have been riding the bench anyways. Win-win.

It's also been reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter that the Chiefs are expecting to cut Matt Cassel once the trade goes through. It looks like even the Cardinals could be winners in this deal: it'll allow them to snatch up Cassel via free agency.

Anyone else getting excited to see how the 2013 Chiefs' offense looks? Depending on what happens to wideout Dwayne Bowe, of course, who will hit the free agent market in a couple of weeks.

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Roddy vs. Alex: Falcons Receiver Calls out Niners Quarterback

With little progress on labor negotiations as of late, small things such as Roddy White's controversial tweets make headline news in the NFL world.

For those on the outside of the media Twitter "loop," the Atlanta Falcons All-Pro wideout tweeted about the San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith. His tweets, as shown below, upset many fans. Though he apologized for his comments in a later tweet, that doesn't take away from what he said about him:

"Why is the 49ers wasting their time with alex smith they need to move on better yet try to get luck next year would be good for them.....2 coaches have been fired for tht mans performance"

Excuse the spelling and grammar mistakes, those were his exact words.

I really could care less that he is calling out another player, even if it is on twitter and not to his face. In his apology tweet he said he doesn't have anything against Smith and that he's a great guy.

That's not why I brought this to attention. I brought it to attention because I kind of happen to agree with White in a way. In his five seasons in San Francisco, Smith has thrown 51 touchdowns, 53 interceptions and posted a career QB rating of 72.1.

No matter how you look at it Smith has highly under-achieved, especially for a No. 1 overall draft pick. The Green Bay Packers drafted Aaron Rodgers that same year (2005) and he wasn't picked until the 24th pick. What has he accomplished? Oh, just a Super Bowl MVP. No big deal, Aaron.

The Niners haven't had a winning season since they made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons in 2001 and 2002. The franchise is now on its fourth head coach during the Smith era (includes 2010 interim coach Jim Tomsula), and have just hired yet another offensive coordinator under new head coach Jim Harbaugh.

What the Niners need is a fresh start, which is why Harbaugh was hired. If they want to continue the "fresh start" trend, not bringing Smith back would be a smart thing to do. The only reason I can see why they would do this is because they are planning on, like White points out in his tweet, drafting Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck in next year's draft.

All I have to say is hopefully Harbaugh lasts long enough to see that happen in San Fran.

Photo found on digitalbusstop.com

Saints Squeeze out a Win in San Fran: Reaction to Monday Night's Game

San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Singletary couldn't catch a break in his team's home opener in San Francisco Monday night, falling to the favored Saints after New Orleans kicker Garrett Hartley drilled a 37-yard field goal as time expired.

Quarterback Alex Smith was responsible for two of the team's four turnovers, but there's no way the Niners would've even been in the game if it wasn't for some stellar play from the former first overall draft pick. Smith led the offense 82 yards down the field in eight plays, the drive totaled just :53. Smith went 4/5 for 51 yards, not to mention he ran 12 yards or a first down on two separate occasions.

Frank Gore, topping off a magnificent game as well (20 carries, 112 yards, 1 TD; 7 receptions, 56 yards, 1 TD), capped off the scoring drive with a 7-yard touchdown run.

With the game 22-20 with under a minute and a half to play, the Niners were forced to attempt the two-point conversion. Alex hit tight end Vernon Davis at the goal line and it was called no good after the officials claimed the ball never broke the plane, but an official review reversed the call.

Smith stole the spotlight late in the game only to have his thunder snatched right back from his grasp.

Defending champion Drew Brees and the high-flying Saints offense drove 54 yards on seven plays to put Hartley in field goal range which, as we have already figured out, abruptly ended any chance of Smith winning the game in overtime.

Despite dominating nearly every faucet of the game on the offensive side of the ball, San Francisco's four turnovers took away precious scoring opportunities and ultimately costed the team the game. Let's see if Singletary can get his team together and bounce back next week at Arrowhead Stadium against the undefeated Chiefs after an 0-2 start.

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez