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Why the Chiefs can't go into another season with Alex Smith at QB

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

The Kansas City Chiefs entered the playoffs widely considered to be one of the only teams that had a shot at dethroning the New England Patriots in the AFC.

A defense stacked with playmakers clearly had the ability control games start to finish, and the offense was doing more than enough to capitalize on that dominance by providing a mid-level scoring complement.

For the most part, the hype surrounding the defense proved to be well-deserved in Sunday's divisional-round loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The star-studded unit held one of the league's most explosive offenses without a touchdown throughout the game, and the Chiefs stumbled upon the opportunity to steal a win as a direct result.

But with six field goals having been enough to oust a Chiefs team that had the benefit of home-field advantage after a first-round bye, there are some questions that need answering on the other side of the ball. And one of which is far more pressing than the others.

Where will Kansas City find its next starting quarterback?

Now 11 seasons into his professional career, and four years after he landed with the Chiefs, the football world knows everything there is to know about what Alex Smith brings to the table.

The former first-round pick isn't awful by any stretch of the imagination. His ability to run an offense and take care of the ball make him the perfect game manager, and those qualities can be useful to a certain extent. To say Kansas City put together a 12-win season in spite of its veteran signal-caller, for example, would be unfair.

If the Chiefs want to take the next step and capitalize on a Super Bowl-ready roster, however, it's become abundantly clear that they'll need more from the most important position on the field.

As much as he'll be advertised as a strong fit for Andy Reid's offensive system, Smith's limitations in attacking the intermediate and deep areas of the field can severely impact the offense's ability to threaten opponents.

Falling behind early just isn't an option for teams that get the majority of their passing yards on dump offs and bubble screens.

Smith is scheduled for salary cap hits of $16.9 million and $20.6 million over the final two seasons of the four-year extension he signed back in 2014. This is the first time the Chiefs would truly be able to justify parting ways, as a release would now only require that they take on $7.2 million of dead money in 2017.

Having a suitable replacement is a factor in any decision to move on from an established veteran, but the Chiefs could have a number of options in that regard.

Along with the possibility of turning to the draft, be it at No. 27 overall or by way of a trade up, there could also be several veteran quarterbacks that become available either through trade or in free agency.

Provided that the two sides could make contract numbers work, Tony Romo is the kind of passer that brings everything the Chiefs have been missing since the days of Trent Green.

Tyrod Taylor and Jay Cutler could find themselves hitting the open market in March, and again opening the trade lines with the New England Patriots in hopes of landing Jimmy Garoppolo shouldn't be ruled out. The argument can be made that each brings more upside in terms of passing ability.

Kansas City moving on from Smith is anything but a lock, and perhaps it can even be considered unlikely given the risk involved. But that doesn't mean it's not the right move.

Rather than sticking with the safe option who can do enough to help the team to the playoffs, the Chiefs' No. 1 priority should be attacking the offseason with the intention of landing a quarterback that can put them over the top.

Unless you're the New England Patriots or Green Bay Packers, the window for Super Bowl contention is often quite small. The Chiefs would be wise to take a chance and look to make the most of a championship-caliber roster while they still can.

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