When most players retire from the NFL, it’s because the phone stops ringing. That apparently wasn’t the case with Alex Smith, who announced Monday that he’s hanging up his cleats.
“Multiple teams wanted to sign” Smith, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets. Pelissero adds that Smith made the decision to call it a career a couple of weeks ago.
Smith appeared on ESPN, where he offered a bit more info on his process. Interestingly, the QB said he did visit with the Jaguars and considered signing with them, via Field Yates of ESPN (Twitter link).
That would’ve reunited him in Jacksonville with Urban Meyer, who coached him in college at Utah. We also heard at the beginning of the month that the Texans had interest in bringing him in. Smith, of course, miraculously returned from a devastating leg injury last season to improbably help lead Washington to the playoffs.
It’s not surprising teams were interested in Smith as a veteran mentor, as the 36-year-old surely has a lot of wisdom to impart to a young quarterback. It would’ve been cool to see him give Trevor Lawrence some guidance in Jacksonville, just like he did with Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City.
Ultimately it wasn’t mean to be, and Smith will wrap up his roller coaster of a career after 16 seasons in the league. He can walk away knowing he had offers on the table, which is more than most can say.
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