Santa Clara, CA -- The San Francisco 49ers and top draft choice Alex Smith agreed to a contract, the team announced at a Tuesday afternoon press conference. The deal is reportedly worth six years and worth $49.5 million.

"I worked extremely hard to get to the level that I am at today. Now it is time for me to go earn this money," Smith said. "I deserved to be the number one pick and now I have to go earn this money."

The former Utah star was the fifth consecutive quarterback to be selected with the top overall pick and seventh in the last eight years. Eli Manning was taken by the Giants via trade with San Diego last year, while Cincinnati took Carson Palmer in 2003. The Texans drafted David Carr with the top pick in 2002 after Atlanta selected Michael Vick in 2001.

The first quarterback selected by San Francisco in the first round since Jim Druckenmiller in 1997, Smith is coming off a strong campaign for Utah. He led the Utes to an undefeated season in 2004 and became the first player in school history to be a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.

"I'm going to get my first NFL experience, hopefully this year," Smith said. "I have a lot to learn, and I anticipate learning a lot. Undoubtedly I'll make some mistakes. Hopefully I'll have successes with them along the way."

Smith had the second highest pass-efficiency rating (176.52) in the nation last season, throwing for 2,952 yards and 32 touchdowns with only four interceptions. He was also named the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a junior.

He went 21-1 as the Utes' starter and had a career touchdown-to-interceptions ratio of 5.9:1. For his collegiate career, Smith threw for 5,203 yards and 47 touchdowns with eight interceptions.

Since 1970, four quarterbacks drafted with the No. 1 overall pick started on squads that won 11 Super Bowls. Pittsburgh's Terry Bradshaw has four rings, while Dallas' Troy Aikman won the big game three times.