Kansas City Chiefs: Alex Smith to Patrick Mahomes
Because of the contract situation of Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs’ massive investment in Patrick Mahomes, this succession plan was set in motion for a long while.
Smith knew that if he performed well, he could get traded somewhere and get a new (big) contract.
Mahomes knew it wouldn’t be long before he would be out there, but the Chiefs could win with Smith and they were right. They made the playoffs in 2017 — Mahomes’ rookie year — but were ousted on their home field by the Tennessee Titans.
Mahomes led the Chiefs to a win in his one and only start as a rookie in week 17, and showed them enough in that game and in practices to be handed the starting job in 2018.
He won the NFL MVP award.
This rapid ascent by Mahomes leads me to believe he was ready to play in 2017, but we have no way of knowing that at this point. It’s all with the benefit of hindsight.
This is the model many teams would probably love to have in place, but not every team with a young QB has the benefit of winning games in the meantime.