Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith is expected to be sidelined for approximately six weeks due to a lacerated spleen, the team announced today. The good news is that in addition to not requiring surgery, Smith won’t suffer any long-term effects due to the injury. However, if the Chiefs make the playoffs (they’ll need to win on Sunday, and hope both the Ravens and Texans lose), Smith won’t be healthy enough to play until the Super Bowl, if at all. Backup QB Chase Daniel will take over the signal-calling reins in the meantime; as Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap notes (Twitter link), Daniel and Smith have similar cap figures this season, with Daniel counting $3.4MM to Smith’s $4.6MM. Daniel, 28, signed a three-year, $10MM deal with Kansas City prior to the 2013 season. Here’s more from the AFC West:
- Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning said that he wants to return in 2015 and, to the surprise of no one, coach John Fox said that he wants Manning back too, as Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com tweets. “I would say…maybe the top [quarterback] of all time, I’d say there’s a pretty good likelihood [that we want him to return],” Fox said.
- With Manning in the fold for 2015, Broncos backup Brock Osweiler will probably see his four-year deal expire after next season without getting an opportunity to play a whole lot, writes Mike Klis of The Denver Post. “When I was drafted here, I knew I was brought in to sit on the bench and learn from one of the greatest quarterbacks to have ever played this game,” Osweiler said. “I also knew that his contract was one year longer than mine. We understood that.”
- Raiders center Stefen Wisniewski, an impending free agent, says the club has made him a few contract offers, but “nothing he was looking for,” according to Josh Dubnow of the Associated Press (via Twitter). The fourth-year offensive lineman is counting just $1.315MM against the cap this season, the final year of his rookie deal. Wisniewski isn’t a star, but he’s a solid player, rating as the 15th-best center in the league per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), so it’s a little surprising that Oakland, who has the most cap 2015 cap space ($51MM)+ of any team, hasn’t made a more serious effort to retain him.
Zach Links contributed to this post.