Well, it's probably academic since the Chefs are totally unlikely to trade Smith within the division, but, you really go off the rails here:
Muhahahahahahaha!here’s zero guarantee Smith will be much cheaper than Cousins. He’s already making $17m next year, but if he’s traded it will probably a trade and sign deal (a deal with his new team is already worked out at the time of the trade) and he’ll command over $20M.
Alex Smith is about $10m a year cheaper than Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins is the new hotness. Alex Smith is the old stankness. Kirk Cousins is the blazing hot young supermodel wife. Alex Smith is "the old ball and chain."
Smith might get $20m because that's what he's due next season and he's unlikely to accept less after the season he's had.
But, he's not a $30m Qb, or a $29m QB either. So, there's a big difference. I don't even know anybody who has $10m, so that's rather a lot of money! He might be worth $20m but certainly NOT anything like $30m! So, he's nowhere near Kirk Cousins range!
This part is right. They will try and trade him for a 2nd rounder, or they might even ask for a 1st rounder (asking's not getting). But, with all the other QBs on the market, what teams are going to be willing to give up a 2nd round pick for Alex Smith? Probably not many.Last but not least, the Chefs gave up 2 2nds for him. He’ll command at least a second rounder if not a first this time in a trade too. KC wants to trade him to play Mahomes and get picks doing it, but they don’t have to. I doubt they'll cut him. They can afford to wait until after the draft and trade him to one of the teams that didn’t grab a QB. He’ll either be traded before or after the draft. I don’t see a way he gets cut.
The Cleveland Browns have been talked about as the top landing spot for Alex Smith, but their 2nd round pick is #33. They would have to be seriously stupid to give up that pick for Smith, considering they are drafting a QB with the #1 pick. They would be unable to improve their garbage team in the draft if they used two of their top 3 picks on Qbs!
Unless some other team offers a 2nd I'm betting that a 3rd rounder is about the best the Chefs will get, and they might not get that. Alex Smith is 33 now and some team might get a few years out of him. But, nobody really thinks you can just roll to a SB with Alex Smith. He's not that kind of QB.
So, any team that takes him will also seek a long term answer at QB. He's a "sign and draft a QB" guy, not a sign and forget about it for 10 years, which is what teams want.