Quarterback Alex Smith, who won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award in 2020 to help the Washington football team conquer the NFC East, is being released by the franchise, a source told Adam Schefter, ESPN, on Friday. said.
Washington, which won 7-9 in 2020, wants to upgrade to quarterly this season, and with Smith turning 37 in May and due to $ 24.4 million against the salary cap, a release is inevitable.
The move will save Washington $ 14.9 million over the limit, while Smith becomes a free agent.
Smith has two years left on a contract he signed after Washington traded for him in 2018. He made it clear to Washington that he wanted to continue playing.
But his term in office in Washington will be defined by the broken right fibula and tibia he suffered in November 2018 and the subsequent return with his first match action on October 11, 2020. In between, Smith underwent 17 surgeries to fight an infection and chose to not his leg is amputated.
Washington kept him on the list in part because he was too expensive to release. But it was also not certain that he had finished playing. Although many people doubt whether he could make it – inside and outside the organization – a number of people with the franchise would often say, “if anyone can do it, Alex can do it.”
After an ESPN documentary aired this past spring, some members of the organization still wondered if a Doctor Smith would even play, but he passed all tests and was cleared. With each milestone, Smith had to prove he could take the next step – being on the field for 11-to-11 work; setting up the grid; play; start.
He did it all and after Dwayne Haskins, the starting quarterback, was placed on the bench and Kyle Allen injured, Smith started six games in 2020. Washington won 5-1 in the starting lineup. During his three years there, Washington played 11-5 in the games and Smith 6-27 with someone else on quarterback.
However, Smith told GQ Magazine that his return had thrown a “wrench” into the team’s plans and that he did not want to be wanted by the organization this past summer.
“They did not see it, did not want me there, not that I should be a part of it, and not that I should be in the team, but also not a chance,” Smith told the magazine said. “Note, it was a whole new regime, they came in; I’m like the leftovers and I’m hurt and I’m this liability.
“Heck no, they did not want me there. At that point, as you can imagine, everything I went through, I could not care less about it. Whether you like it or not, I give it a go at this point . ‘
Smith has not yet said with certainty that he will return for the 2021 season, but sources told Jeremy Fowler, ESPN, that he wants to continue playing.
Smith’s value went beyond his stats last season – he threw out six interceptions at eight. His calming manner, experience and leadership were valuable to his young teammates. Washington started rookie Antonio Gibson with his running rugby, and of his five best wide receivers, only one entered last season with more than 58 receptions in his career – the traveler Dontrelle Inman. If Washington did not get much production, it would need at least someone who could run the game like Smith.
Smith suffered a bone bruise in his calf during the first half of a Dec. 13 win over the San Francisco 49ers, which prevented him from playing in the second half. He missed the next two games – both lost – and struggled in part in the final season due to injury. Smith struggled to play in Washington’s playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he was not agile enough for the coaches and was inactive.
Smith, the No. 1 pick in the 2005 series by the 49ers, started 167 career games. His team’s record in those games is 99-67-1. He spent seven years with the 49ers, who traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs. Smith spent five years with the Chiefs; they were with him 1-4 in the playoffs. Kansas City drafted Patrick Mahomes in the first round in 2017 and traded Smith to Washington after the season in exchange for cornerback Kendall Fuller and a third pick.
Washington recently extended quarterback Taylor Heinicke to a two-year deal with incentives making it worth up to $ 8.75 million. Kyle Allen is an exclusive rights free agent and is expected to return. It also has Steven Montez, who signed as an unknown free agent last season.