Alex Smith expresses his desire to return to Chiefs in 2018
The Kansas City Chiefs' season ended earlier than they anticipated.
The No. 4 seed in the AFC coughed up an 18-point lead in a 22-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Saturday, setting up an offseason of uncertainty.
Chief among that will be quarterback Alex Smith.
Despite leading Kansas City to a 10-6 record and AFC West title, the Chiefs are said to be open to trading the veteran pivot. The team set up its future by trading up in April's draft to select quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Smith has just one year left on his four-year, $68-million contract, and intends to see it through.
"Yeah, I mean, you kidding me? I signed the contract," Smith said when asked after the game if he'd like to stay in Kansas City, according to Nick Shook of NFL.com.
"I'm under contract for another year, so like I said, I'm not thinking about anything else. Right now, obviously disappointed. Like I said, I felt like we had a good chance, and it's gone."
Under Smith's direction, the Chiefs raced out to a 5-0 start to the season, hit a lull in which they lost six of their next seven games, then won their final four contests.
On Saturday, Smith threw two first-half touchdowns to give Kansas City a 21-3 cushion, but went 5 of 10 for 33 yards in the second half.
The 13-year veteran wasn't prepared to dive further into his future so soon after the loss.
"The game just ended," Smith said. "We'll get into all of that in the next couple of weeks."