Alex Smith was rumored to be going to the Kansas City Chiefs for a few days and now that the deal has been confirmed, it is only natural that the trade would be compared to another time the San Francisco 49ers dealt a quarterback to the Chiefs.
20 years ago the 49ers traded Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana to the Chiefs to give San Francisco the chance to play fully with Steve Young. A mobile quarterback taking over for the established starter? Sounds very familiar to Smith's situation that saw Colin Kaepernick take over and lead the team to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Baltimore Ravens in New Orleans.
Smith is not at the level Montana was when he was traded, but he is much younger at 29-years-old, compared to the 36-year-old Montana when he went to the Chiefs. Smith was the number one overall draft pick by the 49ers in 2005 and played with a number of different offensive coordinators before finally settling in as the starter under new coach Jim Harbaugh.
Smith proved he could handle being the starter after taking the 49ers to the NFL championship game after the 2011 season and things were looking good this year until he got injured and sat out with a concussion. Smith was 6-2-1 and competing over 70 percent of his passes, but Harbaugh decided to go with starter Colin Kapernick, who took the team to the Super Bowl.
Montana won four Super Bowls and three Super Bowl MVP awards during his time with the San Francisco 49ers, which is a little better than Smith did during that time, and he was traded with safety David Whitmore and a third-round pick in 1994 for Kansas City's first-round pick that was 18th overall in the 1993 NFL draft.
Smith was also traded for two draft picks, with Kansas City giving up the number 34 pick in the second round and a conditional pick in 2014. Smith is heading to a 2-14 team that owns the first overall pick in the upcoming draft that has a new coach and a general manager in Andy Reid and John Dorsey.
Montana came to a slightly different situation when he was traded to the Chiefs, as he left a 14-2 that made the playoffs and lost the NFC championship game and came to a team that made it as a wild card in 1992 and had an established coach in Marty Schottenheimer. The team also added Hall of Fame running back Marcus Allen later that year.
Smith heads to a losing team, but one with some talent and some momentum after hiring Andy Reid from the Philadelphia Eagles, who fired him after a 4-12 campaign. The team is working to resign Dwayne Bowe and the roster already has running back Jamaal Charles and tight end Tony Moeaki.
Smith is still under his 49ers contract and is signed until the 2014 season and will make $7.5 million over the next two years. Although no details have come out yet, chances are the Chiefs will sign Smith to an extension. Montana signed a three-year, $10 million contract with Kansas City when he was traded.
Montana came to the Chiefs and played in 11 games during the 1993 season after getting hurt and he later led the team to two playoffs victories before falling to Buffalo in the AFC title game. In 1994 he led the team to a wild card berth and his final game was a playoff loss to Dan Marino and the Dolphins before retiring.
