Alex Smith Visited With the Jaguars Before Deciding to Retire

On Monday the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year, Alex Smith, announced his retirement.  He revealed that he visited with the Jaguars and considered mentoring Trevor Lawrence before deciding to retire.

Smith has a history with Meyer going back to college days and was excited about the changes happening in Jacksonville.  After giving it some thought he decided to retire.

From BroBible:

It turns out the connections everyone in the NFL world was making between Smith and Jacksonville had some serious fire behind them, as Smith shared on Monday that he made a trip to Jacksonville and gave thought to the idea of possibly continuing his career with the Jags. Smith’s response was telling after ESPN’s Jeremy Schapp specifically asked if he gave any consideration to signing with Jacksonville to be a mentor to Lawrence.

“I gave that a lot of thought,” Smith said. “I took a trip to Jacksonville and checked it out and I left there so excited about what Coach Meyer has going and what he’s building, and his vision and the culture he’s gonna bring.”

As for what ultimately drove Smith to the decision to hang up the cleats, he explained that he was simply ready to retire and was very much leaning that way even before making the trip down to Jacksonville.

“Even though it was 20 years ago that I played for him in college, he still has that fire and that definitely did excite me,” Smith explained. “I wanted to do my due diligence even though I was leaning towards retirement and I wanted to marinate in it and see what’s out there. I’m happy I did, but I was ready [to retire]. I am ready, and I’m so excited about what’s out there and most of all, to get to experience it with my family.”

Lawrence couldn't have asked for a better mentor.  Smith would have taught him the value of the check down!  Jacksonville will now have to rely on the power of the mullet and Gardner Minshew.