Alex Smith to 49ers: Why SF and QB Must Continue Super Bowl Journey Together

When the 2012 NFL season gets underway, Alex Smith needs to be the quarterback for the 49ers. At this point, nothing else makes sense for either party. 

For the 49ers

The last thing you ever want to do is regress at the quarterback position, especially when the Super Bowl is as close as it seems to be for the 49ers. If San Francisco was a franchise in rebuilding mode that was hoping to maybe sneak in to a Wild Card spot, then it would maybe make sense to look for another, younger option, even if 2012 wouldn't be as productive. 

But the 49ers hosted the NFC Championship game in the 2011 season and, with the exception of Adam Snyder (and possibly Smith), return basically their entire core group of players. All 11 starters on their defense are back, and the offense looks to be much better. 

That takes a hit if Smith is not back. There's nothing about backup Colin Kaepernick to make me believe that he'll be ready to play in 2012, and options don't really exist around the league. Other than Smith, we're talking about a free-agent class with no real starting talent.

The names out there were detailed by ESPN's John Clayton on Monday:

"

The 49ers better do some scrambling to sign Alex Smith and not lose him to Miami. The next best QBs are Vince Young, D. Garrard and McNabb

— John Clayton (@ClaytonESPN) March 19, 2012"

Now Garrard is off of the market, so that list is even slimmer. Neither Young nor McNabb (nor Garrard, for that matter) are as good as Smith.

For Smith

Quite frankly, where else is he going to go? There are only a few teams out there with a need at quarterback who have the money to sign him, and they are not anywhere near contention.

It is hard to imagine any player wanting to go from the NFC Championship game to a team like the Browns or Jaguars, who annually struggle to hit 6-10. 

In addition to that, Smith's career has gone through struggles largely because nothing has been consistent. He has had seven different offensive coordinators in seven years and has consistently been with head coaches that neglected the offensive side of the ball. 

Now Jim Harbaugh is the head coach and Greg Roman is a returning offensive coordinator that knows what he's doing. It would make absolutely no sense for Smith to now choose to go to yet another situation, especially when there are no real good options out there. 

As good as Alex Smith was in 2011, he is not Peyton Manning. It's hard to be critical of a team for pursuing Manning when he becomes available.

Smith needs to swallow his pride and go back to the best team out there. Doing anything else would be a setback for him, just like another quarterback would be a setback for the 49ers. 

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