Tag: Alex SMith Release

Ron Rivera releases statement thanking Alex Smith after release

Washington made the move to release Alex Smith official on Friday, and Ron Rivera thanked him for his veteran leadership on the team.

The news became official on Friday morning that the Washington Football Team was parting ways with veteran quarterback Alex Smith. This news broke earlier in the week, but head coach Ron Rivera’s statement on the matter all but sealed the deal.

In the statement, Rivera said that he and Smith met earlier this week and had an honest discussion about their futures, which concluded with the decision that they would be parting ahead of the 2021 season.

“He made such an impact on our young roster and his leadership was one of the key factors in our late-season success and in making the playoffs for the first time since 2015,” Rivera wrote. “Everyone here in Washington wishes Alex and his family the best going forward and appreciate all that he gave to our organization.”

The road from here for both parties is unclear. Smith will look to sign with a new team where he can hopefully play, or provide veteran leadership to a young QB. As for Washington, they have both Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen on the roster, but the belief is that they will continue their search for a franchise guy through free agency, the draft, or via a trade.

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QB Alex Smith has officially been released by the Washington Football Team

A report on Monday morning told us it was going to happen, and now WFT has made the official move to part ways with QB Alex Smith.

The report has already made its way around the sporting world news cycle, but now it’s also been made official by the team: QB Alex Smith is being released by the Washington Football Team. 

After heroically mounting an improbable comeback from a gruesome leg injury suffered in 2018, Smith underwent 17 total surgeries and found his way back to the football field where he was somehow able to get back into the competition at a high level.

In 2020, Smith came in and started six games for Washington, going 5-1 in those contests and leading the team to an unexpected playoff berth, the franchise’s first since 2015. Unfortunately, a leg injury caused him to sit out the wild-card game, and that ultimately gave the team enough pause to release him today.

There were a few weeks at the start of this offseason where it seemed like Ron Rivera might keep Smith around for the future, finding a way to rework his contract so that he wasn’t a $24 million cap hit in 2021, but after Smith’s comments about not feeling wanted by the team came out in GQ a few weeks ago, it became pretty clear that the two were headed for a mutual breakup.

Now, on the free-agent market, Smith will be looking for a new place to go, and hopefully a new team to play for. He proved in 2020 that he can still play if given the chance, and assuming that he can stay healthy, he might be a valuable commodity to whoever wants him.

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Report: Washington expected to officially part ways with Alex Smith this week

We all pretty much knew it was coming, but Washington is expected to officially move on from Alex Smith this week and release the veteran.

It’s become the most expected move for the Washington Football Team to make this offseason, but according to a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the release of veteran QB Alex Smith is looming.

After an improbable comeback from an injury that many thought was sure to knock him out of the sport, Smith became the starter for Washington in 2020 and led them to a playoff berth, becoming the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year. However, with a significant cap-hit of over $24 million in 2021, as well as a sizeable injury risk, it makes more sense for Washington to move on and try to find their new franchise QB.

Smith was mulling over retirement this offseason, but everything he has said in interview since the season ended make it sound like he wants to keep playing. He will now be searching for a new team with which to continue his career.

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