The Facts: Money matters in this league, and Smith is entering the final year of his contract with the Chiefs. He'll have a cap number of $20.6 million, and the club stands to save $17 million by releasing or trading him. He knows the Chiefs might decide to roll with impressive youngster Patrick Mahomes as their starter this fall. "Obviously, there's a lot of speculation out there on what's going to happen, what could happen," Smith said. "I don't think anybody totally knows."

Diehards Line: Still, as Star staffer Terez A. Paylor notes, Smith, 33, is easily among the smartest Chiefs on the roster. So even though he’s coming off a season in which he set career-highs in passing yards (4,042), touchdowns (26) and passer rating (104.7), you don’t need to explain to him why he might be playing elsewhere in 2018. At the Senior Bowl on Wednesday, HC Andy Reid expressed a certain fondness for Smith, who posted the best stat line of his career in 2017 despite the team’s decision to use two first-round picks and a third-rounder to move up and select his heir apparent in last spring’s NFL Draft. Yet when asked about Smith’s status for 2018, Reid stopped short. “Well, he’s a Kansas City Chief, that’s what he is,” Reid said. “Like I said, we love him and appreciate everything that he’s all about. ..." This will be another ongoing story in coming weeks. We'll be following closely.