Trade likely means no title for QB Smith

The writing was on the wall for Alex Smith last spring when the Kansas City Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes.

But we didn’t know the writing would be so sad.

Smith, the former 49ers quarterback and all-around good guy, has been traded to Washington. (The news was leaked, though it can’t be made official until March.)

He reportedly is set to sign a four-year extension, which might take the 33-year old through the end of his career.

Which means he likely won’t win a Super Bowl.

Then again, the Chiefs might not, either.

Smith’s depressing fate is going to work for Daniel Snyder. Smith is already wellversed in NFL dysfunction, having been employed by the York family for eight years.

Now he’ll play for the owner widely considered one of the worst in sports. Snyder has sued his season-ticket holders and pretty much anyone he doesn’t like, fired and defamed a general manager (the man who drafted Smith, Scot McCloughan) and relentlessly supports his team’s racist nickname.

In Snyder’s 19 years of ownership, Washington is 132-171-1, averaging 6.9 wins per season. That should sound vaguely familiar: During the Yorks’ 18 years of ownership, the 49ers are 131-156-1, averaging 7.3 wins per season.

Smith has not shaken the unfair labels he got stuck with early, as the 49ers mishandled his career with poor coaching. Critics say he “can’t win the big one,” but this season was his best ever: passing for 4,042 yards and 26 touchdowns, throwing just five interceptions and still dangerous with his legs.

The Chiefs were shocked in the playoffs by Tennessee, but that was less about Smith not being able to win, and more about his defense not being able to get a stop. The Titans controlled the ball for more than 19 minutes in the second half.

Smith took the Chiefs to the playoffs in four of his five years in Kansas City. The team had been to the playoffs in only three of the previous 15 years, so there’s no guarantee that Mahomes is going to change anything.

And there’s certainly no guarantee that Smith will find playoff success in Washington.

Smith’s only Super Bowl experience might end up being going out for the coin toss before the 49ers faced the Ravens in February 2013 and then taking his position on the sideline.