The Peyton Manning Circus -- final stop: Denver -- has left more than a few teams in the dust, and a handful of quarterbacks coping with damaged self-images.
If Matt Moore can comprehend why the Dolphins hotly pursued Manning, forgive Alex Smith if he's dealing with a tangle of emotions. Still, there's hope for a Smith-49ers pairing in 2012.
After all, this is the quarterback who silenced doubters last season and rose from career ashes to lead San Francisco within minutes of a trip to Super Bowl XLVI.
The 49ers then shot low on a three-year contract offer, before Smith was forced to swallow the news that his coach, Jim Harbaugh, was throwing passes with Manning at a covert workout last week.
Smith rebounded like any jilted lover would -- playing the field with an increasingly desperate Dolphins contingent.
Heavy brinksmanship amid ugly events, but Smith returning to the 49ers next season is not beyond the scope of reason. The quarterback's ire is directed primarily at general manager Trent Baalke, and less so at Harbaugh, a source close to the player told Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.
It was Harbaugh who stuck by Smith's side all last season and passionately defended him as the team's starter at last month's NFL combine. There's a genuine connection between the two, so if Harbaugh and Baalke play the good cop/bad cop routine, as CSN points out, this drama can be buried before the team gears up to defend its NFC West title.
