Cleveland Browns: Two other under the radar teams that could land Alex Smith

Don’t dismiss these two teams competing with the Cleveland Browns to acquire Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith.

The Cleveland Browns‘ 2018 starting quarterback should be Alex Smith. It makes too much sense. Cleveland needs a veteran to mentor DeShone Kizer and their eventual rookie quarterback.

General manager John Dorsey also knows Smith very well too having worked for the Chiefs prior to his current gig. In addition, Kansas City is a team that will see its share of changes with Patrick Mahomes expected to be their starting quarterback this fall.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport recently reported that the Chiefs are “open to trading” Smith and that the Browns and the Arizona Cardinals could be landing spots.

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I could go over the reasons all day why Smith would benefit Cleveland’s roster. The rest of the NFL sees why he is an asset too, which is why there will be multiple teams vying to add him. Rapoport mentioned Cleveland and Arizona, but who else should be included?

Two teams come to mind: The Buffalo Bills and the Minnesota Vikings.

Buffalo is no stranger to making trades. Some of the bigger moves they have made were trading wide receiver Sammy Watkins, cornerback Ronald Darby, and linebacker Reggie Ragland. Speaking of Ragland, Buffalo dealt him to the Chiefs.

Other Chiefs football operations personnel are still there so another trade could potentially happen. Keep in mind that the Bills have two first round picks (including one from Kansas City), and just like Cleveland, have multiple picks in other rounds too.

Why is that so important? Buffalo could move on from their starter Tyrod Taylor. If they were to put together a trade package filled with multiple picks, it will be interesting to see how different that would be from Cleveland’s (nearly guaranteed) offer.

By adding Smith, Buffalo would place the former first overall pick in the same situation as Cleveland. Smith would start and mentor Nathan Peterman and/or a rookie quarterback.

As far as the Vikings are concerned, it is anyone’s guess who they will have at quarterback come the fall. All three of their quarterbacks (Sam Bradford, Teddy Bridgewater, and Case Keenum) are free agents after this season.

Not only that, but it is hard to imagine no more than just one of their current QBs remain with them moving forward. If Kansas City preferred to move Smith to the NFC, Minnesota would be a team worth keeping an eye on. Smith gets out of the AFC and is the Vikings’ band-aid while they figure out how they will find their long-term answer.

Regardless of how far they go this year in the playoffs, Minnesota is built to be an NFC heavyweight for the foreseeable future. Adding a veteran like Smith could help them win it all (assuming Minnesota falls short in the coming weeks).

As reported earlier, Arizona is an option but they would be better off adding someone else given where they are as an organization.

While Minnesota doesn’t have as many upcoming picks as the Bills and the Browns, they do have a very successful executive running the show in Rick Spielman. He could figure out a way to land Smith if he really wanted/needed too.

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Despite all the variables, Dorsey’s relationship with Smith combined with the availability K.C. has on Smith, it is just a matter of when not if. Smith is going to become a Brown as Dorsey will do what it takes to land him. Fans just have to wait though, until the first day of the new work year in March more than likely. That is when trades can become official.

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