Alex Smith has admitted that he "would love" to sign a new contract with the Kansas City Chiefs before the start of the 2014 NFL season.
The quarterback is heading into the final year of his current deal with the AFC West side, who he joined following a trade from the San Francisco 49ers last season.
The 30-year-old told USA Today: "I would love that. I certainly don't want it to carry on into the regular season and be thinking about it. It's hard to. It's hard to be dealing with it and eliminate it always. It can become a distraction. Hopefully, it gets knocked out and I won't have to worry about it.
"Certainly, I think it's a tough thing. I look at both Andy [Dalton of the Cincinnati Bengals] and [the San Francisco 49ers' Colin Kaepernick, who have both signed new contracts this off-season] and they're both on their rookie deals.
"They're both second-round picks in the new rookie wage scale, so what were their salaries? It's a very different situation for me."
Chiefs general manager John Dorsey confirmed that he spoke with Smith's agent a couple of days ago.
