Bills targeting QB Alex Smith?

Didn't the Bills pay Fitz around $50 million/5 years? This is for a dude that is sub par and never made the playoffs...

Doing the math, they should offer Alex $100 million/5 years & give us their #1 pick on top of it...

Alex is a perfect placeholder type guy. I don't see teams giving up much for though considering there is almost no chance the 9ers will keep him. Don't sleep on Matt Hasselbeck being our backup next year. 9ers were interested in him after the the lockout. He might be a good backup option next season if available.

I think we should be happy with whatever we get for Alex (which I imagine will be a 3rd or 4th rounder, barring us getting creative with the trade and doing something like swapping 1st rounders). We clear a lot of cap room and get something back for him instead of just cutting him. With all the picks we have next year (I think 13?), getting another pick would only make it easier for us to package a lot of the lower round picks with one of our higher round picks to trade up in that same round. It doesn't make sense for us to draft 13-14 players seeing as how all of our rookies barely played this season.

I really want to use an Alex Smith trade to get a top 10 draft pick in this draft. Package whatever additional picks we have to, but make the Alex Smith trade conditional on getting the high first. Then we can draft Justin Smith's future replacement.

And as another poster pointed out, I doubt Alex Smith will have a problem with cold weather. He played college ball in Utah.

I keep reading about all the trade possibilities for Alex Smith, but why in the world would any team trade for him when they know we have to release him? Every team in the league knows we are cap strapped and that the 49ers are NOT going to pick up his 9 mil salary. They will wait until he's released. He's not so good that teams can't afford to take the chance on him signing elsewhere.

Originally posted by EezyNiner:

I think we should be happy with whatever we get for Alex (which I imagine will be a 3rd or 4th rounder, barring us getting creative with the trade and doing something like swapping 1st rounders). We clear a lot of cap room and get something back for him instead of just cutting him. With all the picks we have next year (I think 13?), getting another pick would only make it easier for us to package a lot of the lower round picks with one of our higher round picks to trade up in that same round. It doesn't make sense for us to draft 13-14 players seeing as how all of our rookies barely played this season.

Don't count on the same type of depth, relative health for 3/4 of the season, and FA veterans sticking with this team next year (especially if the Niners go all the way next month). If several starters and FA's depart for more green elsewhere next season, there WILL be holes to fill and depth to pad up...

Originally posted by sachie23:

Alex is a perfect placeholder type guy. I don't see teams giving up much for though considering there is almost no chance the 9ers will keep him. Don't sleep on Matt Hasselbeck being our backup next year. 9ers were interested in him after the the lockout. He might be a good backup option next season if available.

This is the main issue. Most, if not all team don't see Alex as permanent starter material. Will be an interesting offseason.

Originally posted by NinerG94:

I keep reading about all the trade possibilities for Alex Smith, but why in the world would any team trade for him when they know we have to release him? Every team in the league knows we are cap strapped and that the 49ers are NOT going to pick up his 9 mil salary. They will wait until he's released. He's not so good that teams can't afford to take the chance on him signing elsewhere.

One more time. If we cut him, teams have to compete against other qb hungry teams. There are very limited options for teams wanting to upgrade this year, the draft looks unimpressive at this position as does FA.

If we had a real need for a qb, would you want us to go and get the one genuine prospect, or wait until he was cut then join in the scramble for him?

Originally posted by NinerG94:
I keep reading about all the trade possibilities for Alex Smith, but why in the world would any team trade for him when they know we have to release him? Every team in the league knows we are cap strapped and that the 49ers are NOT going to pick up his 9 mil salary. They will wait until he's released. He's not so good that teams can't afford to take the chance on him signing elsewhere.

Teams like Buffalo have a tough time bringing in free agents, if they can't compete with other teams for Smith's services they will trade instead of letting him hit the open market where they wouldn't have a chance. I'm sorry did you know of some other quarterback with a high completion percentage and play-off experience that will be available? Go ahead take a look… Mark my words, Smith will be the most sought after quarterback this offseason, bank on it!

Originally posted by fryet:
I really want to use an Alex Smith trade to get a top 10 draft pick in this draft. Package whatever additional picks we have to, but make the Alex Smith trade conditional on getting the high first. Then we can draft Justin Smith's future replacement.

And as another poster pointed out, I doubt Alex Smith will have a problem with cold weather. He played college ball in Utah.

I would love this too; I just really can't see it happening. Teams (especially bad ones) are enamored with the hope and possibilities inherent in a high-1st pick, even if that team has a history of bungling such picks. IIRC, a top ten pick is worth more than 2 of our #30s by conventional draft charts, and those higher picks gain even more value now that the rookie pay scale has made those picks much more affordable. If Alex is worth a 3rd, no way a team equates the jump from #32 ( ) up to #10 as the same value as a 3rd round pick. I honestly don't know if we could get there with Alex, our 1st, our 2nd, and one of the thirds. If they wanted to give up the #10, just for Alex and our 1st, I'd be just fine w/that.

Originally posted by NinerG94:
I keep reading about all the trade possibilities for Alex Smith, but why in the world would any team trade for him when they know we have to release him? Every team in the league knows we are cap strapped and that the 49ers are NOT going to pick up his 9 mil salary. They will wait until he's released. He's not so good that teams can't afford to take the chance on him signing elsewhere.

If you had a choice of anywhere to move to, how much extra money would it take for you to choose Buffalo or Kansas City? By trading, they not only ensure that they get the player, but they get one the most efficient passers as the 20th highest paid QB in football for the next 2 years. If they wait until he is cut, they need to negotiate a new contract with him IF they can get him to choose them. No telling what the price tag would be, as long as at least 2 teams want him.

Also worth noting: He does not receive guaranteed roster bonuses from being here past April 1st; his salary for the year becomes fully guaranteed. The 49ers are off the hook for his salary in a trade scenario (salary is paid in 17 weekly payments during the regular season), they only eat the cap $$ for already-earned bonuses, which runs about $1million, IIRC. I could be wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure this is correct.

We don't have to trade Alex, he is great insurance and an awesome 49er.

Originally posted by Chief:
We don't have to trade Alex, he is great insurance and an awesome 49er.

Either gonna trade him or cut him to save some money. We have other players we need to re-sign.

Originally posted by Chief:

We don't have to trade Alex, he is great insurance and an awesome 49er.

Agreed, if he reworks his deal.

Hasselback? Over Smith? Tremendous downgrade.

Originally posted by Chief:
We don't have to trade Alex, he is great insurance and an awesome 49er.

Thank you, most I've read wanna trade him away just to get something in return which makes sense. But very little believe AS will restructure his contract and stay as a back up. As we've seen this year, one big hit and the back up QB jumps right in. I'm not sold on Tolzien yet.

Originally posted by Chief:
We don't have to trade Alex, he is great insurance and an awesome 49er.

And that's exactly how Harbaugh is going to sell it... Smith will get his roster bonus all while Harbaugh is singing his praises. Then when they least expect it Harbaugh trades Smith to the highest bidder. Textbook Harbaugh.