What are the 49ers long-term plan at quarterback?

[crash]

Coach Jim Harbaugh was asked Tuesday about quarterback Alex Smith's future with the 49ers.

Do you think Alex is the long-term quarterback for the 49ers as a starter?

Harbaugh's answer: "I do."

Earlier this season, we featured a poll question that asked, "If the 49ers make the playoffs, do you want Alex Smith back at quarterback in 2012?"

Your response was an overwhelming affirmation, as 78% voted yes.

 

[deep9er]

obviously he has to say this in public now, but no doubt he'll be developing others meanwhile. any HC would be developing others no matter the starter, long term we have to hope someone rises sooner rather than later.

we'll have to use Alex Smith at least another year, but at least he's a quality stop gap.

 

[numone9er]

obviously he has to say this in public now, but no doubt he'll be developing others meanwhile. any HC would be developing others no matter the starter, long term we have to hope someone rises sooner rather than later.

we'll have to use Alex Smith at least another year, but at least he's a quality stop gap.

Agreed. The more time Kaepernick and Tolzein have to be groomed, the better off we are. It would be nice if we could get another 2 year deal with Alex for around 10-12 million. That being said, I wouldn't pass on Landry Jones if we have any chance at trading up to get him.

 

[MW49ers5]

obviously he has to say this in public now, but no doubt he'll be developing others meanwhile. any HC would be developing others no matter the starter, long term we have to hope someone rises sooner rather than later.

we'll have to use Alex Smith at least another year, but at least he's a quality stop gap.

This...

 

[MW49ers5]

Coach Jim Harbaugh was asked Tuesday about quarterback Alex Smith's future with the 49ers.

Do you think Alex is the long-term quarterback for the 49ers as a starter?

Harbaugh's answer: "I do."

Earlier this season, we featured a poll question that asked, "If the 49ers make the playoffs, do you want Alex Smith back at quarterback in 2012?"

Your response was an overwhelming affirmation, as 78% voted yes.

I know my vote hasn't changed...

 

[crash]

Agreed. The more time Kaepernick and Tolzein have to be groomed, the better off we are. It would be nice if we could get another 2 year deal with Alex for around 10-12 million. That being said, I wouldn't pass on Landry Jones if we have any chance at trading up to get him.

I'd rather have Robert griffin 111 but realistically he won't be there when we will pick.But i'd still be happy if we draft a corner back in the first round and go WR with our second pick!!

 

[Flyingiguana]

what else is he suppose to say? we're still gonna have to keep a look out for a franchise qb.

 

[numone9er]

I'd rather have Robert griffin 111 but realistically he won't be there when we will pick.But i'd still be happy if we draft a corner back in the first round and go WR with our second pick!!

I could definitely live with that. It's a deep draft at WR and CB in that area of the draft.

 

[clyde_carbon]

obviously he has to say this in public now, but no doubt he'll be developing others meanwhile. any HC would be developing others no matter the starter, long term we have to hope someone rises sooner rather than later.

we'll have to use Alex Smith at least another year, but at least he's a quality stop gap.

That's not the problem. Is Alex willing to sign a one year contract? I doubt it. Are we ready to give him a 5 year, 10mil per year contract? I hope not.

I have no problem with him coming back another year. But I'm extremely skeptical about giving him a Fitzpatrick type contract.

 

[Flyingiguana]

a 5 year contract would be fine if we can dump him after 3-4 with minimal damage cap wise. it might take that long to find and develop a qb. maybe kap can be that guy, but i think he needs a lot of tuning.

 

[clyde_carbon]

a 5 year contract would be fine if we can dump him after 3-4 with minimal damage cap wise. it might take that long to find and develop a qb. maybe kap can be that guy, but i think he needs a lot of tuning.

Sorry, but I'm not ready to give Alex 5 years. I think a lot of what we're seeing is a mirage of small-ball football that Harbaugh has created to protect Alex. I don't see a reason why Kaepernick is not, at least, capable of doing that next year.

He might commit more turnovers, but I think he'll make more plays as well.

 

[sayheykid1]

a 5 year contract would be fine if we can dump him after 3-4 with minimal damage cap wise. it might take that long to find and develop a qb. maybe kap can be that guy, but i think he needs a lot of tuning.

What happens if Smith regresses?
Five is way too much. No one else is going to offer him three and I am guessing he likes working with Harbaugh.

 

[deep9er]

Sorry, but I'm not ready to give Alex 5 years. I think a lot of what we're seeing is a mirage of small-ball football that Harbaugh has created to protect Alex. I don't see a reason why Kaepernick is not, at least, capable of doing that next year.

He might commit more turnovers, but I think he'll make more plays as well.

of course we don't want to give him more than two years, but as you already said.......he won't sign. so to COMPROMISE at best, the meat will likely be for 3 years with the last 2 closer to 'fluff'. if the 'meat' turns out more than three, won't be surprised.

are you willing to call Alex's bluff and THEN find out what Kaepernick can do? cause you aren't going to see enough of CK before making that decision. if CK isn't as good as you HOPE, you don't have any outs. he's going to start all next season, losing streak notwithstanding.

we all know about Alex Smith and how you CONTINUE to feel about him (no matter how you try to hide it). but we're not in a good spot at QB next season.

or you'll have to go out and sign a 'Carson Palmer' type deal, if there's one to make? also, by then it might be too late for the play-offs.

 

[MW49ers5]

A 2/15, or a 3/21 is about all I could stomach...anything longer or bigger would be a waste. Between losing players and teams figuring out how to beat our defense, sooner rather than later, we will have to have a QB capable of doing more than what Alex is capable of doing.

 

[sayheykid1]

of course we don't want to give him more than two years, but as you already said.......he won't sign. so to COMPROMISE at best, the meat will likely be for 3 years with the last 2 closer to 'fluff'. if the 'meat' turns out more than three, won't be surprised.

are you willing to call Alex's bluff and THEN find out what Kaepernick can do? cause you aren't going to see enough of CK before making that decision. if CK isn't as good as you HOPE, you don't have any outs. he's going to start all next season, losing streak notwithstanding.

we all know about Alex Smith and how you CONTINUE to feel about him (no matter how you try to hide it). but we're not in a good spot at QB next season.

or you'll have to go out and sign a 'Carson Palmer' type deal, if there's one to make? also, by then it might be too late for the play-offs.

How offers will he get to start and how many years will they offer him?
I hope two years gets it done. If he succeeds for two more years his stick will be even higher and he will still be under 30 at the end of the deal.

 

[NinerSickness]

If the Niners play hard ball with Alex (which they should) and he decides to look elsewhere to find a better deal or leverage the Niners who's the most likely team to offer him a contract?

Washington? Miami? (reunite Reggie Bush & Alex?)

 

[numone9er]

of course we don't want to give him more than two years, but as you already said.......he won't sign. so to COMPROMISE at best, the meat will likely be for 3 years with the last 2 closer to 'fluff'. if the 'meat' turns out more than three, won't be surprised.

are you willing to call Alex's bluff and THEN find out what Kaepernick can do? cause you aren't going to see enough of CK before making that decision. if CK isn't as good as you HOPE, you don't have any outs. he's going to start all next season, losing streak notwithstanding.

we all know about Alex Smith and how you CONTINUE to feel about him (no matter how you try to hide it). but we're not in a good spot at QB next season.

or you'll have to go out and sign a 'Carson Palmer' type deal, if there's one to make? also, by then it might be too late for the play-offs.

You basically said it all. I would negotiate a 3 year deal if that's what we had to do. He definitely doesn't deserve the contract Fitzpatrick got.

 

[clyde_carbon]

of course we don't want to give him more than two years, but as you already said.......he won't sign. so to COMPROMISE at best, the meat will likely be for 3 years with the last 2 closer to 'fluff'. if the 'meat' turns out more than three, won't be surprised.

are you willing to call Alex's bluff and THEN find out what Kaepernick can do? cause you aren't going to see enough of CK before making that decision. if CK isn't as good as you HOPE, you don't have any outs. he's going to start all next season, losing streak notwithstanding.

we all know about Alex Smith and how you CONTINUE to feel about him (no matter how you try to hide it). but we're not in a good spot at QB next season.

or you'll have to go out and sign a 'Carson Palmer' type deal, if there's one to make? also, by then it might be too late for the play-offs.

Really? I try to "hide" how I feel about Alex Smith? That's news to me. I thought I've been pretty vocal about him this year.

I just don't think it'll be hard to replace Alex. I think a lot of what we're seeing this year is Harbaugh making it extremely simple for him. A lot of small-ball, high-percentage passes primarily inside the numbers. The only team attempting less passes per game than the 49ers are the Broncos, and we know who their QB is.

In the end, it doesn't seem that Harbaugh trusts Alex Smith as a QB, and you don't give a QB like that a 5-year contract. I think Harbaugh knows he can, at the very least, recreate this productivity with a more talented QB in Kaepernick. If not Kap, maybe a guy like Matt Moore in FA, who's not gonna ask for as big of a contract.

There's no question that Smith is improved. He has played MUCH better than I thought he would in Harbaugh's offense. That said, the only passing offenses that are worse than us are the Peyton Manningless Colts, the Tim Tebows, and the Sunshine led Jags. We only know Harbaugh wants much better than that.

 

[clyde_carbon]

If the Niners play hard ball with Alex (which they should) and he decides to look elsewhere to find a better deal or leverage the Niners who's the most likely team to offer him a contract?

Washington? Miami? (reunite Reggie Bush & Alex?)

Miami has Matt Moore. Signing Smith would be a lateral move for them.

Washington makes sense if they don't land a top-tier QB in the draft.

 

[yossarian]

Mike Tirico was on the ESPN radio here today and said Kapernick looked really good when they saw him practice.