Comeback Player of the Year Alex Smith and the Washington Football Team are parting ways this month, NFL Network reported on Monday.
Smith, 36, won the award for top comeback player in 2020 after returning to the field from multiple leg surgeries.
Releasing Smith would cost Washington $8.6 million of his $23.3 million cap hit in 2021.
Per the report, Smith plans to continue playing in the NFL if the opportunity exists.
The revelation comes one week after Smith said he spoiled Washington’s plans by returning to the team last year.
“When I decided to come back, I definitely threw a wrench in the team’s plan,” Smith said in a GQ interview last month. “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. At that point, as you can imagine, everything I’d been through, I couldn’t have cared less about all that. Whether you like it or not, I’m giving this a go at this point.”
Smith’s 2020 salary of $16 million was fully guaranteed.
He began the season as Washington’s third-string quarterback. The team turned to Kyle Allen after Dwayne Haskins was ineffective, then released, and Smith took over after Allen suffered a season-ending injury in Week 9.
Smith played in eight regular-season games, starting six, and completed 168 of 252 passes (66.7 percent) for 1,582 yards and six touchdowns. He was unable to play in Washington’s wild-card loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because of a calf injury.
–Field Level Media