Details on Alex Smith's contract talks with the Kansas City Chiefs

We've known since the end of the 2013 NFL season that an extension for Alex Smith was coming because Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said that the two sides would like to do that. And when the owner wants his quarterback extended, the quarterback is usually extended.

What we've been left to wonder is a.) when a contract could get done and b.) how long the extension will be and c.) how much it will pay Smith per year.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports on two developments in the Smith contracts talks.

First, PFT reports that the talks are moving "very, very slowly" and could pick up after the NFL Draft in May. I've argued that the Chiefs should wait until after the draft to do a contract with Smith in the off chance that a top quarterback (like Johnny Manziel) falls to the Chiefs at the 23rd pick. Waiting until after the draft leaves the Chiefs options open and every GM wants as many options as possible.

Second, PFT reports that Smith's deal should have a value in the $14-17 million per year range. Obviously, that could change given things are moving slowly. But that would put him below the oft cited Jay Cutler contract, which is $18 million per year. A five-year deal at the low end of those per year projections would still be $70 million.

The numbers do look large -- and they are -- but look around the rest of the league. Guys like Tony Romo, Joe Flacco and Matthew Stafford are getting $18 million or more per year. It really underscores how valuable it is to have a quarterback on his rookie contract (Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Colin Kaepernick).

Smith's 2014 salary is at about $7.5 million so he will be seeing a significant raise on that number.

We don't know how long they're talking about in this contract. Three years? Four? Five? That's an important part of all this.

What kind of contract would you structure knowing this information?