Earlier this morning, it was reported by Chris Mortensen of
ESPN that Peyton Manning has chosen to sign with the Denver Broncos, finally
bringing a conclusion to his seemingly never ending “The Bachelor” style
competition to find out which team will have the honor of paying him $18
million a year, or $1.125 million per game. That opening sentence smacks of
bitterness because, well, I am a bit bitter.
I’ve written here before that I’m not the biggest Alex Smith
fan and that an upgrade at QB is necessary for this team to reach its dynastic
potential. Peyton Manning, bionic neck or not, is a clear upgrade from Alex
Smith. From a purely football perspective, the 49ers were easily the best fit
of any team for Manning. They had the best defense of any of the three
finalists (SF, Denver, Tennessee), the best receiving core after the additions
of Randy Moss and Mario Manningham, and the best running game to take pressure
off of him. While they couldn’t offer him the biggest contract, their offer
could’ve been at least competitive. For a player of Manning’s stature and
reputation, where winning is supposed to be the most important thing to him,
his decision to choose a clearly inferior team in Denver is disappointing, and
not just because of my allegiance to the Red & Gold. Manning bailing on a
team that is only a QB short of being scarily dominant for a few more dollars
or, if the rumors are to be believed, because he was afraid of playing against
his brother in the playoffs forces one to reevaluate if winning is truly his #1
priority.
Still, while I’m not pleased with Manning’s choice, I’m by
no means crestfallen over this turn of events. Up until Friday, there was no
knowledge that the 49ers had any interest in Manning whatsoever, so I’d already
accepted the fact that Manning would not be taking snaps in Candlestick Park
next year. From a 49er fan perspective, the most interesting part of this
Manning decision has nothing to do with Manning himself, but instead it’s the
inside look this episode gave the public into San Francisco’s thought process
when it comes to its QB situation.
All last year and into the off-season, everything that came
out of Jim Harbaugh’s mouth about Alex Smith was obscenely positive and
complimentary. Harbaugh repeatedly called Alex a Pro-Bowl caliber player and
that he is one of the elite QB’s in the league. This opinion seemed to be the
consensus throughout organization, as there was absolutely no indication of any
interest in any of the potential free agents or draft prospects at the QB
position. When San Francisco’s interest in Manning became public, as well as
the terms of the contract offer to Alex Smith, the perception of Smith being
“The Guy” was completely shattered.
What this Manning circus has brought to light is that Colin
Kaepernick is the organization's choice as QB of the future, not Alex Smith.
Manning was the perfect guy for them, since he’d in all likelihood be no more
than a 2-3 year experiment, after which, Kaepernick would have sufficient
seasoning to take over the reins. The contract offer extended to Alex Smith
supports this theory as well. The terms of the proposed deal were 3 years for
$24 million with only $10 million guaranteed. Part of the reason Alex dragged
his feet in signing this deal was because he was miffed that after all this
public support and talk that he was a Pro-Bowl caliber QB, that they offered
him a deal only $1.5 million a year more than what Matt Flynn just signed in
Seattle, a QB who has started a grand total of 2 games in 4 years. The answer
is that instead of a cornerstone, the 49ers view Alex Smith as a stop gap,
hence the deal only being for 3 years and containing only 10 million in
guaranteed money, making it very easy financially to part ways with Smith if
Kaepernick forced the issue a year or 2 early. It was very easy to see that
Harbaugh and Baalke were high on Colin on draft day, as they traded up in the 2nd
round to grab him, but with all the accolades heaped on Smith throughout the
season, that fact got shuffled into the background.
1 comment:
Good post. I would add one point. From a coaching standpoint, I don't know that they are concerned about filling Montana's & Young's shoes. i think the point is that hard work simply allows you to maximize your innate talent; it doesn't allow you to materialize talent out of thin air. Alex Smith simply doesn't have the ability to release quickly, throw with power, throw with touch, and throw with accuracy that the most elite quarterbacks have. He has speed, he has smarts, he has toughness and he makes the most of what he has. That might be enough to bring a Super Bowl to SF (he's better than Kerry Collins) but it isn't enough to enter the pantheon of Montana, Young, or even Manning.)
Post a Comment