A lot of talk has surrounded the quarterback position in Washington over the last couple of weeks, but there is a looming storyline there that hasn’t been mentioned much as of late.
It has to do with Alex Smith and his future with the Redskins. After suffering a gruesome leg injury over a year ago, Smith has had his nose to the grindstone while going through the rehab process, looking to eventually get back to a level of ability that will allow him to return to the NFL before his career is over. However, after the severity of the injury — one that nearly caused him to lose his leg — and the subsequent 17 surgeries that followed, a return feels unlikely.
That doesn’t mean that his career with the Redskins is over, though. On his podcast, The John Keim Report, ESPN’s John Keim said that he wouldn’t be surprised to see Redskins’ owner Dan Snyder do everything he could to keep Smith around once his playing career comes to an end.
I’m not holding out much hope that he’s going to play again, I still think it’s a long-shot at best. I think he’s going to stick around for another year, then decide if he wants a front office job here or not. One thing I know — [Dan] Snyder needs someone from the organization that he can hang out with. There’s no Bruce Allen, or Eric Schaffer, or Larry Hess around to do so anymore. That’s why I think that he’s going to try to convince Smith to take some sort of role after he’s done playing. I don’t know if Smith will want that, but I know that if it ends up happening, it would definitely not shock people who know Snyder very well.
There were reports following the 2019 season, and Bruce Allen’s subsequent release, that the Redskins might look to Smith to take over a front office role somewhere within the franchise. He had little interest, as all of his energy has been spent on trying to get to a place where he can play once again. However, if that day never comes, a spot in the Washington front office seems like a great next step of his career.
