Patriots: Alex Smith was on team’s radar before he announced retirement

The New England Patriots are in weird position when it comes to the 2021 Draft. Most rumors have them trading up to draft a quarterback, but that isn’t a sure thing when you consider they’d likely have to move up into the (at least) top seven or eight picks in order to do so.

Whatever the case, you have to think the Patriots will draft a quarterback at some point in the seven-round event.

At this point, they don’t have a long-term successor behind Cam Newton, who was presumably re-signed to be the starter for next season.

That leaves Jarrett Stidham as the backup by default. Based on how he performed in relief of Newton last campaign, that won’t instill much confidence in the fan base.

Well, it would appear that the Patriots have acknowledged Stidham’s limitations and were prepared to sign a quality backup option in free agency….that is, before it literally became impossible to do so.

During an interview with Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated this week, Alex Smith revealed that New England was one of the handful of teams that expressed interest in signing him before he announced is retirement.

The Patriots contacted Alex Smith before he announced his retirement.

In the interview, Smith disclosed that several teams showed interest in him as their backup quarterback for next season, going as far as to reveal that the Jaguars even presented him with a contract in the weeks leading up to his heartfelt announcement.

"“The Texans wanted him too, but their quarterback situation remains in flux,” Bishop wrote on what Smith told him. “Smith also heard from the Patriots, Eagles and Colts. But everyone had questions, conditions. He realized that only one path remained to leave football on his terms.”"

We personally would’ve loved Smith as a backup for the Patriots (who wouldn’t?), but we really can’t fault him for leaving several offers on the table and retiring. After all, he fought like hell — that’s probably an understatement — just to be able to walk again, undergoing a whopping 17 surgeries to repair a compound fracture to his right tibia and fibula.

When all was said and done, Smith had pulled off the impossible and appeared in eight games (six starts) for Washington last season. Though he was limited physically, he completed 66.7% of his passes for 1,582 yards and six touchdowns to eight interceptions.

The 36-year-old led Washington to a 5-1 record in his six starts and ultimately helped them capture their first division title in five years. His miraculous comeback and serviceable production under center rightfully saw him named the 2020 AP Comeback Player of the Year.

It remains to be seen if the Patriots will pursue another potential backup option, but Smith’s retirement really took the last quality free agent off the board. If you look at the remaining available options, you have Nick Mullens, Robert Griffin III and Brian Hoyer left.

We’d be open to signing Mullens, but after missing out on Smith, you have to think the Patriots will wait until after next week’s draft to target another quarterback. After all, if they get their hands on a top prospect, they won’t have any reason to sign somebody.

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