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Alex Smith Released By Washington: Officially A Free Agent

Despite winning the AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year award and leading Washington to the playoffs as NFC East champions, Alex Smith will be a free agent after he was released by the team on Friday morning

Apparently winning a NFC East championship is not enough to keep your job.

Despite starting the 2020 season as the third-string quarterback before emerging to lead Washington to a 5-1 record as a late-season starter and the playoffs, Alex Smith is now searching for a new team.

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Washington Football team has informed Smith that he will be released from the team.

The move doesn't come as much of a surprise as it saves Washington $14.9 million against the salary cap, with $8.6 million in dead money.

At 36 years old, it's assumed that his best playing days are behind him. But he proved last year with Washington that he's more than capable of winning with the proper cast around him. 

He finished the season throwing for 1,582 yards, six touchdowns and eight interceptions, completing 66.7% of his passes — not bad for someone who hadn't played competitive football in nearly three years. But he missed the final three games of the season with a calf injury on the same leg he nearly lost, although the injuries weren't related.

Now a free agent, it's expected that a number of teams will show serious interest in Smith as either a high-quality backup, a mentor to a younger quarterback or a potential stop-gap situation while teams look for their new starter.

Some options include, but aren't limited too; Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans and the odd-on favorite, the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

The Jags are currently led by first-year head coach Urban Meyer and are expected to take Clemson star Trevor Lawrence with the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming draft, the next 'big-thing' at the quarterback position. A reunion makes sense due to the connection between Smith and Meyer, who served as player-coach back at Utah, and the fact that Smith could serve as a mentor to Lawrence.

Alex Smith hugs his college Urban Meyer following a victory during the 2004 college football season

Smith's return this past season was nothing short of a miracle, although it wasn't always clear at times throughout the rehab process of just trying to learn to walk again. When he made the internal decision to return, it wasn't one taken lightly. Then when it became public, it was met with a lot of questions, both from outside sources and those closest to him.

“I’m not crazy. I wasn’t going to do this if I didn’t obviously hear from the experts, and so to hear finally from the experts that, ‘OK, you can,’ for me a bit of a gut check, you know, do I really want to do this? Do I put myself out there? Do I walk across those white lines potentially again in live action?”

“Early on I was supportive. I realized that he needed something to work towards,” his wife Elizabeth added. “I know that football is his life. So why not let him pursue that? Never thinking in a million years that we would actually be on that front doorstep in making that decision.”

While the rehab process proved exhausting and at times painful, it was all made worth it when he got to be in the locker room with his brothers and out on the field competing again.

“I had so much fun this year, especially given all the COVID stuff,” Smith said at the end of the season. “But to be back in the locker room, to be on the field with the guys, to be playing a game I love and to lose yourself in it, it’s one of the greatest feelings in the world. You cannot duplicate it outside of here. … My wife has been through a lot, and my family, certainly I’m going to take their input. But that’s something that right now I’m still just living in the moment and not getting ahead of myself. That is for another time and place.”

What's crazy to think is that Smith's story was almost never told — and it wasn't because of him or his recovery.

According to quotes in a recent GQ article, Smith felt as if he was never wanted back by Washington this past fall.

"They didn't see it, didn't want me there, didn't want me to be a part of it, didn't want me to be on the team, the roster, didn't want to give me a chance," he told the magazine. "Mind you, 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 didn't want me there. At that point, as you can imagine, everything I'd been through, I couldn't have cared less about all that. Whether you like it or not, I'm giving this a go at this point."

Nov 15, 2020; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Washington Football Team quarterback Alex Smith (11) passes the ball against the Detroit Lions during the first quarter at Ford Field

Smith is potentially the greatest quarterback to play for the Utes, leading the team to a 2004 Fiesta Bowl victory over No. 19 Pittsburgh. That Utah squad was known as the original "BCS Buster," finishing the season 12-0 and No. 4 in the AP rankings.

He threw for 5,203 yards and 47 touchdowns to eight interceptions, completing 66.3% of his passes with a quarterback rating of 164.4. He added 1,072 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns on 3.5 yards per carry.

Smith then parlayed that success into a solid NFL career, playing with the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs before being traded to the Washington Football Team in 2018.

As of right now, he's thrown for 35,650 yards, completing 62.6% of his passes for 199 touchdowns to 109 interceptions and a career passer rating of 86.9. He's added 2,604 rushing yards (19th all-time by a QB) and 15 touchdowns, averaging 4.5 yards per carry.

Jan 3, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Washington Football Team quarterback Alex Smith (11) walks up the field at the end of the third quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.

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