Interestingly enough, the only person who this experience doesn't feel new or rare to is Smith. After getting jettisoned for another young, cannon-armed quarterback in San Francisco a few years ago, the NFL circle of life is coming for him once again. Smith, who is 32, has two more years left on his deal and is coming off his second Pro Bowl appearance. Perhaps Reid favors a Packers-style quarterback ascension plan, which he was a part of as a Green Bay assistant in the early 1990s.