Washington FT, QB Smith might split in few days
The Washington Football Team reportedly is expected to part ways with veteran quarterback Alex Smith in the coming days, ending Smith’s storied comeback with the team after one season.
After returning from a compound leg fracture in a game in November 2018, Smith went 5-1 as a starter last season to lead Washington on a four-game winning streak that helped it clinch an NFC East Division title — its first in five years.
Although Smith has said he plans to make a decision about his future in football in the offseason, he has strongly hinted in multiple interviews that he wants to continue playing. He said that his performance last season “only emboldened me that I can play at this level” and “I still feel like I have more left to go gain” on the field.
If Smith is released, the team would take on $10.8 million in dead cap money — or money it already paid Smith that will still count against its salary cap — but will save roughly $14 million in cap room.
Texans
Veteran quarterback Josh McCown, 41, was released, likely ending his 18year NFL career. The Texans signed McCown in November, but he did not appear in a game. McCown joined the Texans after spending the early part of the season on the Eagles practice squad, a job that allowed him to stay at his home in Texas because of the pandemic instead of reporting to Philadelphia. He previously appeared in a game in January 2020 when he took over for an injured Carson Wentz in Philadelphia’s 17-9 playoff loss to Seattle.
Chiefs
The team expects quarterback Patrick Mahomes to be ready for offseason workouts after surgery on his toe, and they are optimistic that offensive tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz could be available for the start of training camp. Mahomes had surgery on Feb. 10, shortly after the Chiefs were walloped by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV, to repair a turf toe injury that had hobbled him throughout the playoffs. There are surprising positive outlooks on Fisher, who tore his Achilles tendon against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC championship, and Schwartz, whose disk injury in his back limited him to just six games early in the season.
Packers
Quarterback and reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers donated $1 million to help 80 locally owned businesses in or around his hometown of Chico, Calif.
Elsewhere
Irv Cross, a former NFL defensive back who became the first Black man to work full time as a sports analyst on national television, died of an undisclosed cause Sunday near his home in Roseville, Minn. He was 81. Obituary,