Andy Reid wanted to trade for Alex Smith while in Philadelphia

When Andy Reid talks about how highly he thinks of Alex Smith, he’s not just blowing smoke. He really means it.

The Kansas City Chiefs traded a second-round pick in this year’s draft and a third-round pick in the 2014 draft to the San Francisco 49ers to acquire Smith earlier this offseason. It sounds like that was a dream fulfilled for Reid. The former longtime Philadelphia Eagles head coach liked Smith so much that he tried trading for the quarterback while he was with Philly.

The Kansas City Star reported last week that Reid has “long coveted” Smith and that he called the Niners to inquire about trading for the quarterback. The New York Times said on Saturday that Reid acknowledged he tried to trade for Smith while he was with the Eagles.

“I just appreciate him and his work ethic and the way he goes about business,” Reid said during the week, via The Star. “He’s very diligent, and he gives his receivers an opportunity to catch the football. When he’s doing that and when we’re controlling the line of scrimmage with the different blocks we’re putting in, whether it’s pass protection or changing runs for the run game, he’s capable of that. So he does a nice job there.”

Smith frequently competed for the starting job in San Francisco and was supplanted by Colin Kaepernick last year. Maybe Reid was trying to pull Smith away while the former No. 1 overall pick was on the bench. Or maybe he just thought so highly of Smith that he wanted the quarterback regardless of the situation. We do know one thing — Reid isn’t the only one in KC who is high on Smith; last week, Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson said he felt Smith was the best quarterback in the league. KC is definitely putting a lot of stock into Smith. I just don’t see him being the big-time player they envision, though it won’t be because of a lack of confidence instilled in him by the organization.

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