Eagles should pursue Alex Smith when Washington cuts him | Marcus Hayes

The Eagles’ big advantage entering 2020, the Season of COVID, lay in their stability. The three other NFC East teams had hired new head coaches and overhauled their coaching staffs -- presumably, crippling developments when combined with the pandemic lockdown that torpedoed offseason workouts and preseason games.

Further, by Week 6, the Giants, Cowboys, and the Washington Football Team all were dealing with quarterback emergencies. The Eagles had Super Bowl coach Doug Pederson and former MVP candidate Carson Wentz coming back ... but, by, Week 13, Pederson and Wentz were both on their way out of Philadelphia.

As it turned out, the division’s most effective quarterback was the least likely to be so: Alex Smith.

As it turns out, after going 5-1 as a starter and leading his team to the division title and its first playoff berth in five years, Washington doesn’t want him back, according to NFL.com. Not for the $19 million he’d cost in salary and bonuses. Not if releasing him will save $13.6 million in salary-cap space.

This is excellent news for the Eagles -- who enter this season with an inherent disadvantage. They have the new coaching staff. They have no quarterback plan.

But they could have Alex Smith.

» READ MORE: Why Howie Roseman’s misses — Wentz, Jeffery, JJAW — aren’t big misses | Marcus Hayes

For what figures to be a cheap contract for a team currently more than $43 million over the salary cap, recently weaned head coach Nick Sirianni and similarly youthful lieutenants could have a quarterback with intimate, current knowledge of the NFC East’s defenses. Smith essentially would be an extra coach. In truth, he’s more qualified than most of his would-be bosses.

Also, at 36 (he turns 37 in May), he could buy the beer on the weekends.

At this moment the Eagles have only one quarterback under contract, so they’ll have to add somebody. Several intriguing players will be available, chief among them Jacoby Brissett, a low-mileage 28-year-old, and Sirianna was his offensive coordinator the past three seasons in Indianapolis. There’s also Cowboys failure Andy Dalton; hairy genius Ryan Fitzpatrick; Joe Flacco, whose last good year came before Trump was even a candidate; Chip Kelly mirage Marcus Mariota; as well as Tyrod Taylor and C.J. Beathard, the NFL’s current embodiment of “meh.”

None fits as well as Smith fits with the Eagles’ current quarterback, who has thrown just 148 passes in the NFL, completed just 52% of them, and, worse, completed passes to the other team 2.7% of the time.

Jalen Hurts remains very much a project. There are no QBs in the draft other than Trevor Lawrence who project to be better than Hurts, so there is no need to draft a QB early.

Smith, meanwhile, has thrown about 5,000 more passes than Hurts, and has completed 62.6% of them. From 2011-18, among passers with at least 2,000 attempts, Smith’s 1.4% interception rate was second-lowest only to Packers G.O.A.T. Aaron Rodgers.

Accuracy will be at a premium for these Eagles. They return fast, raw rookies Jalen Reagor, John Hightower, and Quez Watkins, as well as low-profile starters Travis Fulgham and Greg Ward -- a cast of young receivers who last year showed little aptitude for snaring errant passes, even though Hurts and Wentz gave them lots of chances.

The Eagles might be a circus in 2021, but Smith has seen it all. The No. 1 overall pick in 2005, Smith sat behind Colin Kaepernick, Dwayne Haskins, and Kyle Allen. He’s been traded to make way for Kaepernick and Patrick Mahomes, and apparently, he’ll soon be cut to make way for Taylor Heinicke, an undrafted journeyman with 77 NFL passes.

Smith has played for six head coaches, including both of the wrong Harbaugh and Gruden brothers (Jim and Jay, not John and Jon). He’s played for at least 10 offensive coordinators; for five coordinators in his last five seasons; and for both Turners: Norv, in 2006, and Scott, Norv’s son, last year.

Nevertheless, Smith is 99-67-1, and he’s been to three Pro Bowls.

» READ MORE: The Eagles’ best option at QB may be to make some practical (Fitz)Magic with Jalen Hurts | Mike Sielski

Smith is not dynamic; 13 quarterbacks averaged more yards per pass attempts from 2011-18, when Smith made his three Pro Bowls. And, in case Hurts’ psyche is as fragile as Wentz’s, Smith cannot be considered a long-term answer.

Smith’s right leg was shattered in 2018. The resulting complications, including a life-threatening infection that nearly required amputation, kept him out of NFL games for nearly two years.

Washington was so confident Smith’s career was over that they drafted Haskins in the first round in 2019. Washington was so certain he was only nominally useful last season that he was inactive the first four games until Ron Rivera benched Haskins. He relieved Allen twice and, when Allen was lost for the season in Game 8, he became the starter. He missed Games 14 and 15 with a right calf strain, but returned for a Game 16 win at Philadelphia in which he threw two touchdown passes that carried Washington to the NFC East title.

Smith then missed Washington’s Wild Card playoff game with the same calf injury. He won Comeback Player of the Year, more an indicator of the unlikelihood of his ever returning than an indicator of his performance. He never looked fully recovered, and he’ll never be the same player he was.

But he’ll be good enough for the Eagles. And he’ll have vengeance on his mind.

» READ MORE: Which pending free agents should the Eagles make an effort to keep?

Dalton, 33, has the highest interception rate (2.61%), the lowest passer rating (84.8) and the lowest yards-per-attempt average (6.71) of any passer with at least 1,700 attempts since 2017. Brissett has accuracy issues: a 60.1% completion rate under Sirianni, as well as an 86.6 passer rating. Mariota, 27, had a 2.9% interception rate in 2017-18, his last seasons as a full-time starter, 22nd among the 24 passers with at least 700 attempts. The 36-year-old Flacco’s passer rating from 2015-20 is 82.9, worst among the 17 quarterbacks with at least 2,400 attempts. “Fitz-Magic,” who will be 39 in November, is really an illusion; of the 26 quarterbacks with at least 1,500 attempts from 2016-20, his interception rate of 3.35% ranks 35th.

There’s a reason why these guys will be looking for work.

Smith also might be motivated by an intradivision move. He told GQ last month that the depth of disrespect Washington showed him last season was stunning.

On his unexpected return: “It wasn’t like open arms coming back after two years. ... It’s like you got three eyes. ... They didn’t want me there, didn’t want me to be a part of it, didn’t want me to be on the team, the roster, didn’t want to give me a chance.”

The Eagles should give him a chance.