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

[Flyingiguana]

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.

i don't think he will regress. he started to improve last year after the eagles game and it carried over to this year. second season in a system is where offenses typically get going, so i'm expecting some sort of improvement next year. especially if the offensive line can become functional.

 

[sayheykid1]

1 1/4 good seasons out of 6 isn't quite enough for me to want the Niners to sign him for five years. I hope he continues to improve and that this above average year is not an outlier.

Two years with a third year that could be ditched without a huge cap hit would work for me. If you over commit to him will the team be less willing to go to Kaepernick.

 

[deep9er]

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.

everyone here knows what i meant...when you get called on it, you say you're not as 'vocal'. you get defensive whenever you get questioned about your 'hate' for Alex. jeez

anyways, we likely agree on Alex Smith so we'll leave him at that.

we don't disagree on CK's ability cause neither of us knows? what we disagree with is 'gambling' he pans out? we'll look pretty bad trying to low ball Alex, and we go 6-10 next season? i'm not a huge fan of Alex's upside, but we're in a tough spot. at least he'll get us to the play-offs next season whereas if CK fails, no outs.

 

[Flyingiguana]

1 1/4 good seasons out of 6 isn't quite enough for me to want the Niners to sign him for five years. I hope he continues to improve and that this above average year is not an outlier.

Two years with a third year that could be ditched without a huge cap hit would work for me. If you over commit to him will the team be less willing to go to Kaepernick.

it can take a qb 3-4 seasons to hit their potential. smith has been through tons of coordinators and lost a full season with an arm injury. how he's played over the past season and a half is a better indicator of the qb he is now than what he did earlier in his career.

 

[Jikkle]

I think a 3 year contract is probably the most realistic and I wouldn't have a problem with it.

But in reality most contracts these days seem to be structured where a team can cut you at time so in the end does it really matter if it's a 3 year deal or a 6 year deal if the team can boot you at any time it needs to?

My take on Smith is that he's adequate for now but we'll need to upgrade him if we plan on being a truly dangerous team for years to come.

I am confident that he'll have a better season next year (assuming we remain relatively healthy) than this season. We'll have a full offseason and the offense will be in it's second year so I believe the blocking will be better and Smith himself will have a better repore with his targets.

 

[h0ckeysk83r]

Honestly dont think smith will wanna sign elsewhere. I see him coming back but honestly i still wanna see how alex does in the playoffs and see how he does when the real pressure games come into play.

 

[MW49ers5]

I think a 3 year contract is probably the most realistic and I wouldn't have a problem with it.

But in reality most contracts these days seem to be structured where a team can cut you at time so in the end does it really matter if it's a 3 year deal or a 6 year deal if the team can boot you at any time it needs to?

My take on Smith is that he's adequate for now but we'll need to upgrade him if we plan on being a truly dangerous team for years to come.

I am confident that he'll have a better season next year (assuming we remain relatively healthy) than this season. We'll have a full offseason and the offense will be in it's second year so I believe the blocking will be better and Smith himself will have a better repore with his targets.

The longer the contract, the bigger the overall dollars and thus, typically, the larger amount of cap impacting dollars as well.

 

[mufasa76]

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.

BINGO!!!!!!

 

[mufasa76]

Honestly dont think smith will wanna sign elsewhere. I see him coming back but honestly i still wanna see how alex does in the playoffs and see how he does when the real pressure games come into play.

This team currently is the best situation for Alex and he knows it - only thing i am dreading is just like you said; a tough playoff game that he needs to take over and win ...ohhh boy...

 

[iHATEdodgers]

3 years is fine, if it's 5 with opt-outs that's fine too. Like others have said Smith isn't going anywhere and he doesn't want to go anywhere. I don't think he should get Fitzpatrick money but if Harbaugh keeps talking him up they may have to.

I don't get the high hopes with Kap, I've had high hopes for so many young/backup QBs now (all the way back from Grbac to now) and none of them except Garcia have worked out. Smith is showing that he is at least a decent QB I wouldn't be so quick to discard him for hope.

 

[iHATEdodgers]

This team currently is the best situation for Alex and he knows it - only thing i am dreading is just like you said; a tough playoff game that he needs to take over and win ...ohhh boy...

I can think of several games where he has "taken over" and won or put us in a position to win. I'm not worried about that. He's not asked to air it out because the coaching knows we can win without doing so and avoid the risks that come along with that type of offensive philosophy.

It's just as likely that New Orleans or Green Bay or anyone else will be forced to play a tight defensive game with us. If so I like our chances.

 

[h0ckeysk83r]

I can think of several games where he has "taken over" and won or put us in a position to win. I'm not worried about that. He's not asked to air it out because the coaching knows we can win without doing so and avoid the risks that come along with that type of offensive philosophy.

It's just as likely that New Orleans or Green Bay or anyone else will be forced to play a tight defensive game with us. If so I like our chances.

There have been some games like that, but the playoffs are a whole new story. Time will tell

 

[mufasa76]

I can think of several games where he has "taken over" and won or put us in a position to win. I'm not worried about that. He's not asked to air it out because the coaching knows we can win without doing so and avoid the risks that come along with that type of offensive philosophy.

It's just as likely that New Orleans or Green Bay or anyone else will be forced to play a tight defensive game with us. If so I like our chances.

you have a good point there but i also think our defense has done more to keep us in games than what Alex and the O has done to keep us winning or?

 

[mufasa76]

There have been some games like that, but the playoffs are a whole new story. Time will tell

You are right..do or die attitute in the playoffs.....

 

[iHATEdodgers]

you have a good point there but i also think our defense has done more to keep us in games than what Alex and the O has done to keep us winning or?

I completely agree that this team is built on D. However the offense generally does what it needs to do, and when pressed (Philly) has shown it can come through.

I still like our D vs. any offense in the playoffs. I've seen plenty of high-powered offenses foiled in the playoffs by great D over the years.

But yeah we'll see who tightens up in the playoffs it's a different atmosphere and obviously we don't have much in the way of playoff experience.

 

[mufasa76]

I completely agree that this team is built on D. However the offense generally does what it needs to do, and when pressed (Philly) has shown it can come through.

I still like our D vs. any offense in the playoffs. I've seen plenty of high-powered offenses foiled in the playoffs by great D over the years.

But yeah we'll see who tightens up in the playoffs it's a different atmosphere and obviously we don't have much in the way of playoff experience.

My biggest fear is also how easy it is to intimidate our offense...I hope they grow a pair soon cos Seattle will test the heck out of them...

 

[MW49ers5]

My biggest fear is also how easy it is to intimidate our offense...I hope they grow a pair soon cos Seattle will test the heck out of them...

Agreed!

 

[deep9er]

My biggest fear is also how easy it is to intimidate our offense...I hope they grow a pair soon cos Seattle will test the heck out of them...

was thinking about this PRIOR to the Steeler game, but didn't think the O-line was intimidated? Goodwin had a false start but otherwise, they didn't look rattled?

even Alex Smith looked comfortable, very comfortable IMO.

 

[maniax]

Harbaugh and the coaches see Kaepernick every day so they would be best to judge if he's ready or not.

That would be sick if Kap was ready to start next year, with Tolzien and a rookie QB as the 3rd, because Kap's salary cap numbers for the next 3 years are so low that it would allow us to stack up at all the other positions and probably resign all the key free agents. Check out his salary cap numbers, super cheap for a starting QB.

Right now, the only thing that Kap might not be able to do that Alex is doing is limit the number of turnovers. Alex is doing a great job at that. Kap was at least more turnover prone in the preseason.

Year Salary Base Signing Roster Workout
2011 $931,691 $375,000 $556,691 $0 $0 0
2012 $1,164,613 $607,922 $556,691 $0 $0
2013 $1,297,535 $740,844 $556,691 $0 $0
2014 $1,530,457 $973,766 $556,691 $0 $0

 

[MW49ers5]

Harbaugh and the coaches see Kaepernick every day so they would be best to judge if he's ready or not.

That would be sick if Kap was ready to start next year, with Tolzien and a rookie QB as the 3rd, because Kap's salary cap numbers for the next 3 years are so low that it would allow us to stack up at all the other positions and probably resign all the key free agents. Check out his salary cap numbers, super cheap for a starting QB.

Right now, the only thing that Kap might not be able to do that Alex is doing is limit the number of turnovers. Alex is doing a great job at that. Kap was at least more turnover prone in the preseason.

Year Salary Base Signing Roster Workout
2011 $931,691 $375,000 $556,691 $0 $0 0
2012 $1,164,613 $607,922 $556,691 $0 $0
2013 $1,297,535 $740,844 $556,691 $0 $0
2014 $1,530,457 $973,766 $556,691 $0 $0

Pre-season statistics are about as useful as sperm on a bed-post. Pre-season is for nothing more than player evals., and short term statistics tell you exactly nothing about a players talent and ability.