FanPost

Alex Smith: How Much Is He Worth... and Respected?


What is Alex Smith actually worth to you as a fan? How much does the Chiefs organization respect him as the QB piece of the puzzle? There are many questions to these questions.

It seems that every Kansas City sports radio broadcast is having this conversation lately, at least once per day. They are comparing and contrasting all these players and stats... many times putting the cart before the horse. Specific salary figures aside, it’s all about respect. Do the Kansas City Chiefs respect Alex's performance to a certain level of salary, in which defines a certain level of respect?

Right now, Alex Smith's average annual salary, as compared to the other NFL QBs, is $8.4M/yr (http://www.spotrac.com/rankings/nfl/average/quarterback/limit-50). This ranks him at #15... below Big Ben & above Carson Palmer. Aaron Rodgers, Colin Kaepernick, & Matt Ryan head the list with $22M, $21M, and $20M respectively. Now, we could argue if Matt Ryan is a better QB than Alex, but is he 2.5 times better?

I've heard many state that $18.1M (the latest QB deal with Jay Cutler) would be too much for Alex Smith... based on what? In determining the right salary, should they actually compare Alex's performance to Cutler's? And if so, do we look at win/loss percentage, passing stats, or both? Is Cutler overpaid to start with? On that same list, Cutler sits above Tony Romo, Matt Stafford... and 4 spots above Tom Brady. So, does that mean Cutler is better than Tom Brady? We know the answer to that.

Many have said, "Well, Alex has only been good the last 3-4 years and he stunk before that"; which is true... but, so what? A player never gets cut if he is doing well today... no matter how he did before, right? I think in evaluating a player (or team for that matter) logic states to examine the last few years. Good or bad, anything way before that is too far out of scope to reasonably factor in to how well a player may perform tomorrow. So, let’s take a look at some of the Quarterback names used as an argument in giving Alex Smith a new level of respect.

Over the last 3 regular seasons:

Player (RegSeason W-L) {Playoff games played}: Reg Season Yds/TD/INT/Comp%

Stafford (21-27){1}: 4650/29/19/58.5, 4967/20/17/59.8, 5038/41/16/63.5
Cutler (22-14){0}: 2621/19/12/63.1, 3033/19/14/58.8, 2319/13/7/58.0
Romo (24-23){0}: 3828/31/10/63.9, 4909/28/19/65.6, 4184/31/10/66.3
Ryan (27-21){3}: 4515/26/17/67.4, 4719/32/14/68.6, 4177/29/12/61.3
Smith (30-9-1){3}: 3313/23/7/60.6, 1737/13/5/70.2, 3144/17/5/61.3

(Stafford & Ryan played all 48 games. Romo, Cutler, Smith missed games.)

Looking at this sample, there are so many variables to use for/against how much a QB should make:

*Stafford throws a ton of yards/TDs, with Megatron on the roster, and has a losing record.
*Cutler's numbers aren't that great at all and he hasn't played in the post-season.
*Romo has pretty good QB stats, but seems to make a key play in keeping his team out of the playoffs.
*Matt Ryan has great passing stats, has played in 3 playoff games, but his W-L record is average.
*Alex has the best W-L record, the least INT ratio, but isn't putting up fantasy numbers.

What do we make of this?

It looks like Cutler is getting grossly overpaid, considering his poor statistics and lack of playoff leadership. I wonder how Stafford's numbers would look without Calvin Johnson; the best WR in the game. Matty Ice was throwing to Tony Gonzalez, Julio Jones, and Roddy White. And Romo has the worst luck of any good QB I've ever seen.

Too many different factors can be pulled, manipulated, or skewed in order to get the wanted result. What should a QB be paid for… numbers or wins? And how much for intangibles?

I think that it comes down to the QB's team and how much he is worth to them vs the immediate future. Plus, most winning QB have a winning coach and a winning team around him... so, how much can one really say plays more of a part than any other part? Could Head Coach Andy Reid have turned this team around with Matt Cassel? Could Alex have played this well under former Head Coach, Todd Haley?

I think Alex is worth the salary of a consistently safe & good QB; whom doesn't put up monster numbers, yet keeps his team in the win column. And Alex isn't throwing last second INTs like Romo, throwing fits like Cutler, or has the luxury of throwing double-digit TDs to the best wide receivers in the league. How much is that worth to the Kansas City Chiefs???

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.