Washington has officially released Smith, source confirms originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
A little more than three years after arriving in a blockbuster trade that went down during Super Bowl week, Alex Smith's time in Washington is done.
On Friday morning, a source confirmed to JP Finlay that the team, in a widely-expected move, had officially released the quarterback from his contract.
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By dropping Smith, Washington Football Team's quarterback room consists of Taylor Heinicke and Steven Montez, the former of which was an unknown before his epic playoff performance against the Bucs and the latter of which is, well, an unknown. Kyle Allen, an exclusive-rights free agent, is a strong possibility to return, too.
Though Smith was a special part of Washington's 2020 NFC East title, his age, lack of upside and remaining durability concerns are why the franchise can't trust him to be the long-term solution under center. Plus, they will save more than $14 million because of the transaction, which can't be ignored.
Judging by many of his recent quotes, it's assumed that Smith will look to continue his career elsewhere as opposed to retiring. Some have connected him with the Bears — he and coach Matt Nagy overlapped in Kansas City — and the Jaguars — he and coach Urban Meyer were together at Utah.