Troy Smith Update

Sorry I missed this yesterday, but Jamison Hensley had an update on the Troy Smith trade demand saga.  The latest news to break is that Ozzie Newsome received no trade request from Smith’s agent, Ralph Cindrich.  This conflict’s Cindrich’s original story, where he reported on Twitter that he had fulfilled Smith’s wish of filing a trade request.

"Newsome said Wednesday that he personally never received a formal trade request from Cindrich.“I have not heard from his agent,” Newsome said. “And I know who his agent is, personally, so I have not heard that.”"

Either way, whether Cindrich did in fact call Newsome or not, it appears evident that

Smith wants out and that Cindrich will work hard to get him out.  The former Heisman winner at Ohio State wants to compete for a starting job, and in my opinion, shared by many Ravens fans’, he should be able to.  He’s been pretty efficient as a backup and occasional starter, but after Joe Flacco was drafted and Smith’s illness last preseason, he hasn’t had the chance to win the starting job in a Ravens uniform.

Here’s where I get purely speculative in two departments: Where Smith will end up if he in fact does get traded, and who would be his replacement as Flacco’s backup.

When you think about which teams would want a QB who could compete for a starting job, only a few teams come up.  The 49ers just haven’t had an answer at the position since Jeff Garcia, the Rams will probably let go Marc Bulger but may pick up Michael Vick, the Vikings may try to stockpile more candidates for the starting position if Brett Favre retires, but in my mind, only two places stick out as contenders, Washington and Arizona.

The ‘Skins are always getting messed up by Dan Snyder, and he always likes to threaten to bring in quarterbacks.  The big snag of this speculation, however, is the nature of Dan Snyder’s desires.  While it sounds pretty poetic, it’s quite straightforward.  Snyder likes big names.  He’ll probably try to bring in a big college QB from the draft, possibly a Jake Locker or Jimmy Clausen.  It seems like every offseason, Jason Campbell is considered to be out, don’t expect this one to be different.

With Kurt Warner retiring in Arizona, their quarterback situation is unique.  It appears that Matt Leinart is not the one that the team wants playing, based on his treatment over the last few years.  They’re too low in the draft to bring in a top QB prospect, so they’ll probably be picking up a veteran to at least compete with Leinart.  Smith doesn’t seem like the type they might want, but it’s a possibility at least.