By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
"End of an error" has become an overused phrase in sports media, but it feels appropriate in this case.
According to 94 WIP's Howard Eskin, the Philadelphia Eagles are releasing 2014 first-round pick Marcus Smith:
Sources tell me #eagles have released former no. 1 pick Marcus Smith. @SportsRadioWIP
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) July 26, 2017
Others have since confirmed that the team is parting ways with Smith.
This comes just prior to the Eagles having to pay Smith a $594,000 roster bonus and on the same day that the team announced that it was releasing veteran offensive lineman Allen Barbre. Barbre, of course, was a productive swing-man for the Eagles offensive-line during his four seasons with the team. Smith, on the other hand, will go down as one of the least productive draft picks — let alone first-round draft picks — in the history of the organization.
In three seasons with the team, the Louisville product tallied just 16 total tackles and four sacks. Despite being a first-round draft pick, Smith didn't dress for half the team's games in his rookie season of 2014. This wasn't because he wasn't healthy, it was because Chip Kelly and the team's coaching staff at the time didn't feel that their first-round pick was even worth dressing on Sunday's, let alone starting.
Smith made headlines earlier this summer for skipping voluntary workouts, which angered many followers of the team. In response, Smith simply suggested that he wasn't trying to send a message by not coming to the workouts, he simply had decided that he was better off training by himself than attending workouts that are, at least in title, voluntary. Others speculated that after the team signed Chris Long and used their first-round pick on Derek Barnett, both of whom would have taken snaps away from Smith, the 25-year-old and his representatives were trying to assure his release.
If that's the case, then he got his wish. Had he somehow made the roster, he likely wouldn't have dressed on game day and his fourth season may have been even less impactful than the initial three. When you consider that he isn't signed for 2018, that may have ended his career. The thinking from his camp now may be that Smith may have a better chance to latch on with a team and prove that he belongs in the league moving forward than he would have in a year.
