Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Alex Smith's trade value
By Tim Kavanagh
The two big stories of the week thus far are that Percy Harvin is reportedly available to the highest bidder in trade, and that the Philadelphia Eagles have reached a deal to keep Michael Vick in town for 2013. While this doesn't guarantee that Vick will start for them, it does take a potential option off the market for any of the QB-needy teams around the league. As we pointed out yesterday, this ups the demand for players like Alex Smith, Matt Flynn and Matt Moore.
But just how much has that value been enhanced? Looking at recent trades involving backup QBs, we have the Kevin Kolb deal (which netted the Eagles a starting CB and a second-round pick in the next offseason's draft), and the Charlie Whitehurst trade (in which the Seahawks and Chargers swapped second-round position, about an equal value to a third-round pick). However, based upon Smith's resume compared to that of Kolb and Whitehurst, it's expected that he'll fetch more than either of those two. The fact that Vick is now off the table for teams like Arizona, Buffalo, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Kansas City and the Jets could mean that the Niners could potentially draw a second-round pick in exchange for Smith, who performed quite well in 2011 and 2012 prior to the concussion that effectively ended his season. Based on where those teams are picking in Round 2, it's a huge price to pay, but Smith is more of a known commodity than fellow trade bait Flynn, and more skilled than Moore. Moreover, given the dearth of players considered to be instant-starters at QB coming out of this year's draft class, this may increase the price these teams are willing to pay for Smith, who could come in and take over the offense from Day One.
