Alex Smith's season is over with another shoulder injury. The high-priced quarterback's short career with the San Francisco 49ers is probably finished as well.

The 49ers put Smith on injured reserve yesterday with a broken bone in his right shoulder. The top pick in the 2005 draft probably will require more surgery on the joint that limited him to seven games last season.

Coach Mike Nolan improbably claimed to know little about the injury that ended his former franchise quarterback's fourth NFL campaign before Smith even played in a regular-season game this fall.

"I feel sorry for him," said running back Frank Gore, the Niners' third-round pick in Smith's draft. "He was a great teammate and worked hard. I just hope the best for him, and hope he gets well."

After paying Smith more than $31 million during his four years with the 49ers, the bleak realities of NFL salary cap life mean the club is likely to release him before next season. General manager Scot McCloughan said last week that San Francisco can't risk paying $9 million in base salary to a backup quarterback in 2009.

Smith lost his starting job to journeyman J.T. O'Sullivan in training camp.

EXTRA POINTS

Former Broncos linebacker Al Wilson, a five-time Pro Bowler sidelined with a neck injury since the end of the 2006 season, retired yesterday. Wilson played his entire career with Denver, which drafted him out of Tennessee with the 31st overall pick in 1999. ... Less than 24 hours after Indianapolis starting defensive tackle Ed Johnson was arrested on a drug possession charge early yesterday, Colts president Bill Polian said the team would waive Johnson today. ... Marques Colston, the New Orleans Saints' top receiver during the past two seasons, had surgery on his left thumb to repair a torn ligament suffered in Sunday's game against Tampa Bay and will miss four to six weeks.