The San Francisco 49ers hopped up on the tight rope this past week when they opened the door in attempts to add QB Peyton Manning. They lost their safety net when Alex Smith flew to Miami to visit with the Dolphins. By late Sunday, word was out that Alex Smith actually wanted to remain in California and was prepared to wait out Peyton Watch before making his decision.
Manning has now made his decision to head to Mile High and join the Broncos, placing Alex Smith back in the spotlight. The 49ers pursued Manning and it did not work out and it might have left some slightly jilted feelings on the part of Alex Smith. It remains to be seen exactly how the relationship is between Alex Smith, Jim Harbaugh and Trent Baalke, but I would imagine it is not an idea situation for now.
Now the 49ers have to attempt to execute their backup plan. Although the 49ers might be content to go with Colin Kaepernick and some other random veteran, my guess is they will do what they can to smooth over any hurt feelings with Alex. Will that involve throwing a little extra money at Alex like the Jets seemed to do to Sanchez after a brief pursuit of Manning?
Tim Kawakami reported that the 3 year/$24 million offer to Smith has $10 million in guaranteed money. Do they guarantee more of it or add some more on the deal overall? I don't think they add additional years, but Alex might have at least a little bit of leverage. Do we see a little something extra to make up for this? I know some don't think anybody owes anybody else anything in this whole saga, but there is still some measure of human nature to consider in all of this.