Does Reuniting With Alex Smith Make Sense for the 49ers?
Alex Smith is now a free agent.
While his days as a starter are over, he can be an adequate backup for a team.
One team that is in the backup quarterback market is the San Francisco 49ers. Reuniting with Smith would actually be a solid move for the 49ers. It is definitely better than trading for Teddy Bridgewater. Smith would come at a cheaper price and would not come at the expense of a draft pick.
So does reuniting with Smith make sense for the 49ers?
The only way reuniting with Smith is a feasible option is if the 49ers were to go all in on a rookie quarterback starting for them. Smith brings more to the table than just the comfort of him as a backup. Smith is a highly intelligent player. What he could do to the maturation process for a rookie is invaluable.
To this day, Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid cannot stop raving about Smith's contributions that go beyond the field. So if the 49ers end up rolling the dice on a rookie quarterback in 2021, then Smith makes perfect sense. In that scenario, signing Smith would almost be needed.
However, that scenario is completely impossible.
It is not that the 49ers wouldn't commit to a rookie quarterback. Although, I do see it farfetched since I believe Jimmy Garoppolo will be the starter in 2021. And that is not to say that Smith wouldn't prove beneficial to Garoppolo. What makes reuniting with Smith impossible is all on his end. Why on earth would he be willing to come back to the team that traded him away? His displeasure about how the 49ers handled his return from injury is well-known.
And while that 49ers team is completely different from the one that Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch runs, I am sure Smith just wants to keep the 49ers in the past. This is the first time he is a free agent ever in his career, and he will actually have a market. A few teams that come to mind that would sign him to benefit their young quarterback are the Jaguars, Jets, and Chargers.
If Smith were willing to the sign with the 49ers, they should jump at the chance. They are looking for a backup quarterback, which Smith makes more sense than Bridgewater. It is almost as if trading for Bridgewater would be more as a replacement for Garoppolo than to be his backup.
Either way, the 49ers need a surge of intellect in the quarterback room because the smartest player there now just might be Nick Mullens.
