QB Alex Smith: ‘Washington Didn’t Want Me Here’

Smith says the WFT “never thought I was coming back” and “it wasn’t like open arms” when he did

The Washington Football Team reaped the benefits of Alex Smith’s stirring comeback.

But the downside of the quarterback’s comeback?

The “wrench.”

Smith said the team “never thought I was coming back” and “it wasn’t like open arms” when he did ready to return in 2020 following his devastating 2018 leg injury.

“When I decided to come back, I definitely threw a wrench in the team’s plan,” Smith said in a visit with Clay Skipper of GQ. “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. 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.”

Of course, in the end, coach Ron Rivera and “the new regime” was happy to benefit from Smith’s surprising contributions to the NFC East champs - including his 5-1 record as WFT’s starter.

Smith says WFT’s approach to him did not phase him.

“At that point, as you can imagine, everything I’d been through, I couldn’t have cared less about all that,” Smith said. “Whether you like it or not, I’m giving this a go at this point.”

Now comes the next “wrench” - and maybe another chapter of WFT disinterest. Smith’s contract for 2021 means a $23 million cap hit - and Washington would likely prefer to escape that. That fact won’t end Smith’s football career ... but it might mark a “they don’t want me here” repeat.