When most players retire from the NFL, it’s because the phone stops ringing. That apparently wasn’t the case with Alex Smith, who announced earlier this morning that he’d be hanging up his cleats. 
“Multiple teams wanted to sign” Smith, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets. Pelissero adds that Smith made the decision to call it a career a couple of weeks ago. Smith then appeared on SportsCenter, where he offered a bit more info on his process. Interestingly, Smith said he did visit with the Jaguars and considered signing with them, via Field Yates of ESPN (Twitter link).
That would’ve reunited him in Jacksonville with Urban Meyer, who coached him in college at Utah. We heard at the beginning of the month that the Texans had interest in bringing him in, and the Colts, Patriots, and Eagles were also intrigued, according to Greg Bishop of SI.com. Smith, of course, miraculously returned from a devastating leg injury last season to improbably help lead Washington to the playoffs.
It’s not surprising teams were interested in Smith as a veteran mentor, as the 36-year-old surely has a lot of wisdom to impart to a young quarterback. It would’ve been cool to see him give Trevor Lawrence some guidance in Jacksonville, just like he did with Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City.
Ultimately it wasn’t mean to be, and Smith will wrap up his rollercoaster of a career after 16 seasons in the league. He can walk away knowing he had offers on the table, which is more than most can say.
I thought it was Jacksonville or retirement.
Alex Smith needs an orthopedic device to lift his foot as there isn’t enough muscle left in his leg to do it. His late season “injury” was clearly related to his body trying to compensate for that. He certainly deserves a lot of credit for working his fanny off to get back on the field, but he is no longer capable of being an NFL starter.
What’s your point? No one wanted him to be a starter he obviously could’ve been a back up.
The last sentence of this article is the most important… he can literally walk away. Great career Smith. Keep your head up high.
Bravo Alex Smith for a long and honourable career. Bad luck/timing meant he never realised his full potential in the NFL. In terms of bringing a team to the playoffs, he was one of the best. Without the injury Smith would be leading a Redskins team boasting the number four defense now.
Glad to see Smith walk away though. After that injury it was amazing watch Smith lead the Redskins to a division championship but there’s no way he should be risking re-injury. Retiring is the right thing to do for his family. Smith will be gimpy on that leg like a war injury for the rest of his life. As he gets older it will act up again, if he’s doing any sports at all (which he will do).
Back-up with a couple of games per year in case of injury is what Alex should have been targeting, not a starting job. But it really doesn’t make sense to go from making $30 million/season to making $6 million/season.
Probably a very smart move, his mobility was not that good, and it was a train wreck on the horizon. That being said he still had a very amazing year after recovery!
May still be Jax…as QB coach
Thank the LORD, that Smith had enough sense to retire and that he is able to WALK, let alone, WALK AWAY !!
Wish Smith played for his college coach one last time. But I understand not wanting to hold a clipboard for Trevor Lawrence.
I could easily understand accepting a position as QB coach in Jacksonville, though – NO chance of “one more injury” from playing…
Wish him nothing but the best. Thought of him as a bust until he came to KC. Just a class guy and who doesn’t need to play.