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Oh, did you hear the Kansas City Chiefs traded for Alex Smith? It's true. I heard it on the internet!
The San Francisco 49ers are the perceived early winners of this trade, according to the various fan reaction I've seen. That means nothing ... but it's still a little disheartening. The reason some Chiefs fans don't like the trade is because they believe the compensation involved was too steep.
It was initially reported that the Chiefs were giving up a second round pick in 2013 and a conditional mid-round pick in 2014. Now we're getting more details on what that conditional pick is.
According to Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News...
Can double-confirm: the 49ers are getting a 2nd rounder this year and a conditional 3rd rounder next year from KC for Alex Smith.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) February 27, 2013
The 2014 pick moves from a 3rd rounder to 2nd rounder if Chiefs win a certain number of games, NFL source confirms
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) February 27, 2013
This is usually what "conditional" means. It's conditional on the player hitting a certain stat or the team winning a certain number of games. So if the Chiefs win X number of games next year, that pick will turn into a second. If they don't, it remains a third. I'd really like to know what X is.
None of this can become official until March 12 so there's still the tiny chance that somethings disrupts this. But it sure seems like it's going to happen.
Keep reading:
Alex Smith trade likely ends Matt Cassel era