49ers shouldn’t aim for reunion with Alex Smith

The Washington Football Team and quarterback Alex Smith are set to part ways during the offseason according to multiple reports. An available veteran quarterback will always be tied to the 49ers this offseason, and Smith’s prior history with San Francisco makes a reunion make sense on paper. He’s not the veteran signal caller the 49ers should be seeking though.

Smith was a remarkable story last season in becoming the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year, and he still has enough to help a quarterback-needy team. However, the 49ers’ needs under center don’t quite jibe with Smith is bringing to the table as he enters his 17th season in the league.

Last season Smith started six games and won five of them, completing 66.7 percent of his throws. His other numbers weren’t great – six touchdowns, eight interceptions, and 6.3 yards per attempt – but it’s easy to chalk that up to his return from injury and some rust following more than a season away from the football field while he learned how to walk again.

On the other hand, even if Smith is fully healthy, it’s worth wondering how his game will age as he enters his Age 37 season. He’s never been stellar at stretching the field vertically and his last really strong season was four years ago with Kansas City.

He’d likely present an upgrade at the backup QB position for San Francisco, which is looking for a player who can fill in and win a few games should Jimmy Garoppolo be unavailable. Smith’s price tag is probably going to stretch beyond what the 49ers are willing to pay for a backup though with a sizable free agent market and the NFL draft coming in April.

There are also teams with young quarterbacks or that are transitioning that could pay Smith with the goal of working him in as a bridge starter and a mentor for a young signal caller the way the Kansas City Chiefs did with Patrick Mahomes. The Jacksonville Jaguars and new head coach Urban Meyer, who coached Smith in college at the University of Utah, come to mind. That’s not the place the 49ers are in as they try and contend for a Super Bowl in 2021 with Garoppolo at the helm.

It would certainly be a cool story to have Smith back in the Bay Area, and acquiring an incredibly smart backup quarterback who’s calling card has been a knack for ball security is something San Francisco may like to do given how disastrous the 2020 season was from a giveaway standpoint. However, Smith’s price tag is likely to be too steep for the 49ers and his added value as an on-field coach doesn’t fit where the team sits going into this year.

If his market doesn’t develop and his price tag falls into an affordable range, there are certainly worse options among available veterans. Until then though, a reunion between the 49ers and Smith isn’t in the cards.