Alex Smith’s Amazing Comeback(?)

[mooby]

1. All this talk about Alex Smith was paid an insane contract is nonsense. He was paid the going rate for a NFL caliber starting quarterback at the time. You can put a lot of things on Bruce Allen, but this isn't one of them. It's standard practice to trade for a guy and then give up a long term extension to complete the deal, otherwise the player might not agree to the trade.

2. I'm not saying Alex Smith is doing this for the wrong reasons, his track record as a team player goes back to when Kaepernick was on the 49ers. He will absolutely be an asset for Haskins to have around. And I'm not disputing his mindset right now is "I want to go as hard as I can for as long as I can, and be the first quarterback to come back from an injury this severe."

3. I think it's a perfect storm of circumstance, we knew after he went down that we had to hold onto him for at least 2 years because of the cap implications. This gives him 2 years minimum to rehab his leg and hopefully worst case scenario be able to step away from the game with no long-term complications. Best case scenario he comes back from the brink of having his leg cut off and plays football again, whether as a backup or starter. But even in his best case scenario he would only be competing for a starting spot on a team, most likely as a bridge to the next long-term qb of a franchise. So he has the motivation to do this, and he has the comfort of knowing his cap hit means he's here until next offseason at a minimum. But realistically, even if he does come back and prove he belongs on the 53, it hopefully won't be as a starter here because that would mean Haskins is a bust. I personally hope Haskins seizes this opportunity and removes all doubt whatsoever that he can be a stud qb in this league. And even if he doesn't, I consider it highly unlikely the Redskins would go into next offseason thinking Alex Smith deserves the starting job again. Alex Smith will either retire next offseason or the Redskins will release him and he will battle on another squad for a starting or reserve job.