QB Smith Finally Gets Some Good News After Horrific Leg Break, NFL Future Still in Air
Nearly one month after breaking his leg in a game and subsequently enduring multiple surgeries, Alex Smith has finally been released from the hospital.
And he’s looking happy about that, anyway.
Smith’s wife posted a photo on Instagram of the Redskins quarterback at home after spending four weeks in a hospital.
Smith fractured his leg in two places in a game against the Houston Texans on Nov. 18. That injury was bad and was a season-ender in its own right, but what Smith endured afterwards was even more terrifying.
Smith’s leg became infected, which then required multiple more surgeries. Even before the infection, Smith was expected to need between six and eight months to recover, according to SI.com.
The infection put Smith’s football future in jeopardy and doctors were just worried about saving his leg rather than him returning to play.
If Smith is unable to play again, it would be a massive hit to the Redskins, not just because they would be in need of a starting quarterback, but also because of the financial implications of Smith’s cap hold.
When Smith was traded to Washington during the offseason, he signed a $94 million contract with $71 million guaranteed.
The Redskins can’t get out of the contract until after the 2020 season, so they would have to eat $20.4 million worth of salary cap space next season and then $21.4 million in 2020.
According to ESPN, this financial scenario would put the Redskins in a similar situation to where they were in 2012 when the NFL docked the team $36 million in salary cap space for front-loading contracts during the uncapped 2010 season.
Without Smith under center, Washington has been forced to use Colt McCoy, Mark Sanchez and Josh Johnson under center.
McCoy also suffered a broken leg just two weeks after Smith did, but it was a clean break and he could even return in time for the playoffs if Washington were to make it that far.
Jay Gruden says Colt McCoy had surgery to repair his right fibula this morning. Two-three weeks would be “wishful thinking”. Four weeks more likely. #Redskins
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) December 4, 2018
Just days before Smith returned from the hospital, news of another infection for another Redskins player came out.
Rookie Derrius Guice tore his ACL in preseason and underwent surgery shortly thereafter. The Washington Post reports that Guice suffered an infection that lasted two months and had to undergo three additional procedures.
Guice was on antibiotics for seven weeks and had to have his knee drained multiple times. But he is expected to be ready for offseason activities next spring.
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