Report: Alex Smith's release 'unlikely'

It still remains possible the 49ers will part ways with Alex Smith this offseason with Colin Kaepernick entrenched as the starter and alpha bro in the locker room. But don’t expect the team to flat-out release their one-time QB1. From ESPN: The San Francisco 49ers are “highly, highly, highly unlikely” to release quarterback Alex Smith, sources told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. If true, that would go against Smith’s reported wishes. (A report that Smith has refuted.) Obviously, this would mean that should the Niners get rid of him it would have have to come via a trade, which would restrict his options and freedom to choose where he wants to end up, things a delusional Alex Smith homer might say the 49ers owe to Smith. But Niners GM Trent Baalke said he doesn’t know yet what the team’s plans for Smith are. From Cam Inman: “We’ll look at all options available,” Baalke, the 49ers’ general manager, told reporters Thursday at the NFL’s scouting combine in Indianapolis. “Are we going to trade