After a miraculous comeback from major surgery in 2020, Alex Smith has decided to hang up his cleats. He made the announcement early Monday morning, ending his 14-year career in the NFL.
Smith told ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” that he had been leaning towards retirement this offseason, however, he made a trip to visit the Jacksonville Jaguars to do his due diligence before coming to a final decision. While he didn’t leave with a contract, he said he left excited about the vision of head coach Urban Meyer, who was Smith’s coach at the University of Utah.
Alex Smith details how he considered signing with the Jaguars before ultimately deciding to hang it up after 16 years in the NFL pic.twitter.com/t2v2w4AdSd
— Outside The Lines (@OTLonESPN) April 19, 2021
“I took a trip to Jacksonville and checked it out,” Smith said. “I left there so excited about what coach Meyer has going and what he’s building and his vision and the culture he’s going to bring.
“Even though it was nearly 20 years ago that I played for him in college, he still has that fire and that definitely did excite me. I wanted to do my due diligence, even though I was leaning towards retirement. And I wanted to marinate in it a little bit and see what was out there. I’m happy I did.”
Most fans would agree that it would’ve been nice to have Smith on the roster. He would’ve brought a ton of experience to the table with 167 career starts to his name and 35,650 career passing yards. However, chances are it would’ve been as a backup due to the Jags having the No. 1 overall pick to use on Trevor Lawrence.
Meyer spoke on smith last week while on the “Michael Irvin Podcast.” He said the Jags showed interest in Smith, however, the medical team had concerns. Despite that, Meyer and Jags general manager Trent Baalke, who scouted Smith before he joined San Francisco, wanted to look out for Smith, but it appears he felt it was best to end his career on a high note.