West Notes: Smith, Cardinals, Broncos

During an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, Alex Smith fielded questions about his future with the Chiefs. The 14th-year quarterback wishes he had more control in this process. He could well be traded for the second time in his career.

“I wish I knew,” Smith said about his future (video link). “I’ve got a year under contract there in Kansas City. I wish I was in control of this thing. I wish I was the one who got to do this. That’s just not the reality. … I love where I’m at. I feel like we underachieved. Offensively, last year, I felt we did some awesome things. Who knows? I’ve been through this before, the trade deal. A lot of crazy stuff can happen.”

The conversation pivoted to the Browns, a proposition that has been mentioned recently. A team that has lost 31 of its past 32 games does not sound like an ideal place to go for a veteran quarterback that’s been to the playoffs four times in the past five years, and Smith seemed to confirm as such during his interview.

“I haven’t even thought about that,” Smith said about a Cleveland trade. “They’ve got nowhere to go but up. One and 31 over the past two years just sounds amazing. If that’s the case and you’re going somewhere, yeah, you want to go somewhere where you have a chance to have success.”

The soon-to-be 34-year-old passer has one year left on his Chiefs contract, and it seems likely Kansas City (as of now projected to be $9MM-plus over the 2018 cap) will pull the trigger on a deal.

Here’s more from the West divisions.

• Steve Wilks will not be calling plays and running the Cardinals‘ game-day operations this season, with Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com (on Twitter) revealing new DC Al Holcomb will call plays. This will be new territory for Holcomb, the Panthers’ linebackers coach the past five years.
• The Cardinals’ running backs coach during Emmitt Smith‘s farewell season in 2004, Kirby Wilson is close to a deal to return to the desert. Alex Marvez of the Sporting News reports Wilson interviewed for the job and is considered a strong candidate to again fill that role. Wilson coached Arizona’s backs from 2004-06 before moving on. He spent the past two seasons as the Browns’ run-game coordinator. Wilson’s coached seven teams’ running backs, dating back to 1997. One of Wilson’s stops was in Minnesota, where he oversaw Adrian Peterson‘s third rushing championship season in 2015.
• If the Broncos are going to pursue Kirk Cousins and what could be a record contract, they might have to part ways with one of their Pro Bowl wide receivers because of cap considerations, Mike Klis of 9News writes. While noting it would be a surprise if John Elway parts ways with both, Klis writes one could be jettisoned. The Broncos, though, have experienced consistent issues finding supporting-cast wideouts; everything has funneled through Thomas and Sanders since 2015. And Denver’s revolving door at quarterback has contributed to the 30-year-olds’ statistical regression. The Broncos must decide between Feb. 10 and March 14 if they want to pick up the $4MM option that buys back the final two years of Thomas’ deal, which calls for a $12.1MM cap hit in 2018. Cutting Sanders ($10.94MM 2018 cap number), though, would cost $5.375MM in dead money.