
The Washington Football team announced this morning that they would be parting ways with 36 year old veteran Alex Smith. Smith won the AP Comeback player of the year award last season after helping lead Washington to a playoff bid through his stellar play and leadership down the stretch of the 2020 season. In the 6 games Smith started for Washington last year the team had a 5-1 record, throwing for 1,500+ yards with a 66.7% completion percentage. The news came as a bit of a shock to most fans this morning as Smith is an experienced vet who can contribute on and off the field for his team. Many teams will be in the market to grab Smith this offseason, most likely in a backup type role where he can coach up a young QB. These are my top landing spots for Smith as of March 1st.
San Francisco 49ers:
What a fun reunion this would be for Alex Smith and 49er fans. San Francisco dealt with one of the hardest seasons to swallow in recent memory as they entered last year as favorites to take the NFC crown and were hampered by injuries almost instantly. Current QB1 Jimmy Garappolo has had his fair share of struggles staying on the field, tearing his ACL in 2018 and missing 10 games in 2020. John Lynch has already stated he’s looking for a reliable backup in case of injury and Alex Smith has to be a top 3 candidate for him. San Francisco appears to still be in a win now mode and Smith is a huge upgrade over both Beathard and Mullens. A vet presence with some fantastic history in the red and gold, if Smith isn’t looking to be a day 1 starter this seems like the perfect fit.
Denver Broncos:
At this point I have no clue how much longer Elway is going to let the Drew Lock experiment go on. Lock in his 18 games started has a 8-10 record with 23 TD’s and 18 INT’s. Alex Smith is a plug and play guy for Denver and would be a complete change of style for this Broncos offense. Noah Fant is a solid 23 year old TE who could rapidly develop working with Alex Smith, A QB who’s had tremendous success with both Vernon Davis and Travis Kelce. Even if Smith doesn’t get the initial start he would be a solid mentor for Lock or the Broncos potential shiny new QB at #9 in the draft.
New England Patriots:
This one makes the most sense to me. New England has always been reluctant to go out and pay a heavy price for a QB. Cam Newton signed for a 1.75 million base salary last season in New England, they held together a decent running game but Newton looked awful throwing downfield. Alex Smith is significantly less mobile, but would add a great pocket presence to a team with WR’s they’ve failed to significantly develop thus far in Jakobi Meyers and N’keal Harry. He’s finished with a completion percentage over 65% 7 times in his career, the running back by committee combined with allowing his weapons on the outside to make plays fits right into the NE philosophy. If Smith is looking to start next season this has to be a top pick on the list.
Miami Dolphins:
All signs are pointing towards Ryan Fitzpatrick signing a new deal to be a starter in 2021 outside of Miami. He’s already been heavily linked to both Denver and New England and is essentially in the same boat as Alex Smith if he can’t land a starting gig. Miami’s current starter Tua Tagovailoa top attribute so far has to be his accuracy, especially on throws outside the numbers. Alex Smith is also a dump off kind of guy but has had a tremendous amount of success throwing through the middle of the field. Alex Smith’s best role as a mentor / backup would be in the Dolphins system. Plus what 36 year old wouldn’t mind getting paid millions to toss a ball around in Miami?
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