Negotiations Between The Chiefs & Alex Smith Are Ongoing

Chiefs HC Andy Reid told reporters on Monday that they are still discussing a contract extension with QB Alex Smith.

“I mean, there’s communication going on,” Reid said, via the Kansas City Star. “Like I told you before, that’s the important thing.

“Alex is a good football player, he’s great for this football team and we’re lucky to have him here.”

The paper reported last week “significant differences” remained between the two sides, so it’s hard to say if there has been any progress since then.

“They’re working through it so we’ll see what happens,” Reid said. “These things take (time). You know how the game goes. Alex isn’t worried about it and I’m not not worried about it. We just go play.”

Previous reports have mentioned that the Chiefs are willing to franchise Smith in 2015 if talks continue to stall.

Smith is reportedly “pushing to be paid like a top-tier quarterback” mainly because there is no second-tier market at this position.

Franchising Smith would be pretty expensive as the 2014 tag was set at $16.912 million. However, it’s only for a single year, so Kansas City could always move on in 2016 depending on how things go.

Smith, 30, is entering the final year of his current deal and will make $7.5 million for the 2014 season. He counts just as much against the Chiefs salary cap, so a long-term deal would offer them some immediate cap relief.

In his first season with the Chiefs, Smith led them to playoffs and played great in their first-round matchup against the Colts before an incredible turnaround from Indy. Smith also set career highs in passing yards with 3,313, rushing yards (431) and touchdowns (23) while only throwing seven interceptions.