On Sunday, Mike Florio of PFT reported that 49ers quarterback Alex Smith was expected to seek his release from the 49ers rather than moving to a new team via a trade.
Smith was asked about that report during Super Bowl Media Day on Tuesday and said that he didn’t have any idea where that came from. He didn’t say it was an inaccurate assessment of his desired path to a new team, however, and wanting the chance to pick your own landing spot has to be at least somewhat appealing. Smith said that he’s only thinking about the Super Bowl, but his answers made it clear that he’s not totally unprepared for what’s coming up in the offseason.
“I still feel I have my best football ahead of me,” Smith said, via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com."In that sense, I feel like I’ve gotten better and better. I feel like I’m capable of playing at a high level. So, yeah, I’m excited for my next opportunity, wherever that comes.”
Smith drew the most attention of any backup quarterback not on the Jets roster on Tuesday and he handled it as well as he’s handled everything since getting benched for Colin Kaepernick. He can’t hide that he wants to be a starter, though, and his $8.5 million salary for 2013 all but guarantees he’ll get that chance somewhere other than San Francisco.