Texans To Consider Alex Smith As Deshaun Watson Replacement?

April 2nd, 2021 at 12:42pm CST by Zachary Links

The Texans have yet to engage in trade talks for Deshaun Watson, but the calls are still coming in — even in the midst of Watson’s off-the-field situation. If the Texans move on from Watson or lose him to league discipline, former Washington quarterback Alex Smith could be considered for the role, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (Twitter link).

Smith suffered his horrific leg injury against the Texans in 2018, but managed to return to the field in 2020. According to the QB, Washington didn’t necessarily want him back. Smith went on to go 5-1 in his starts and help WFT capture the NFC East title. Smith was, understandably, not at his best. Last yar, he threw for six touchdowns against eight interceptions with a 78.5 QB rating.

“When I decided to come back, I definitely threw a wrench in the team’s plan,” Smith said earlier this year. “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.”

Ron Rivera & Co. went on to cut Smith, saving $14.7MM against the cap. Although they didn’t want to give Smith a chance – or a 2021 return — the Texans could be willing to give him an opportunity.

Watson is facing upwards of 20 lawsuits alleging a variety of sexual misconduct. The league office could move to place Watson on the commissioner’s exempt list, which would keep him off the field while the legal situation plays out.

Follow @PFRumors

12 comments on “Texans To Consider Alex Smith As Deshaun Watson Replacement?”

padam • 3 years ago

If I’m Houston I make the deal and reboot. First mistake was trading for Johnson. Time to rake in the draft picks and move from what may be issues to come.

Thronson5 • 3 years ago

Yea it’s not hard to see they need to completely rebuild. Trade anything they can for picks and kick start what’s inevitable. Seems like teams always try to fight it and delay their rebuild even though they are in rebuild mode and just fail to see it. Guess we will see how smart this new GM ana head coach are, if they can realize what they need to do and do it. Not a Texans fan but as a fan of football it’s always frustrating to see a team go through what they are going through. BOB really screwed them. Hopefully they can get it back on track there

1

Reply
Rocket32 • 3 years ago

padam It’s a bit late now, I don’t think anyone is touching Watson at full price at the moment until the legal situation plays out further and they have more info. This is a pretty major scandal. Trading all your assets for him right now would be a PR nightmare.

Reply

badco44 • 3 years ago

Gezz he got his shot and was barely able to move at all in the pocket. I can’t blame Wash from moving on, with his poor movement how long will he last? And the dollars didn’t justify that chance… it’s a business and put you in the same place to call the shots, and my money says you would have done the same!

Alec Kinnear • 3 years ago

It’s not Alex Smith’s fault that his leg was broken in two three years ago. There wasn’t anything wrong with the contract except bad luck. Smith has done incredible work to be able to get back out on a football field at all, let alone go 5-1. He could have not played at all and made the same money.

That said given the condition of AS’s leg and that he has a young family and that he’s a very wealthy millionaire, it’s absolute madness for him to play NFL ball ever again: Smith is almost a sitting duck back there for a similar injury which may leave him on crutches for life at this point or on an artificial limb.

I don’t think any team will offer Smith enough money to justify putting the pads on and going out there again. Hopefully seeing offers of $5 and $7 million/year will cool his ardour. It’s also possible that Roger Goddell had a quiet word with other owners: another Alex Smith leg injury would be very bad for the NFL, attracting scrutiny for reckless endangerment.

Reply