A/C Compressor Loud Noise

I drive a 2007 Nissan Maxima. My wife was driving home from a trip and stated that the fan was making a loud noise while turned on. Later, she ran into foul weather and attempted to turn on the defrost, at this point smoke began coming out from under the hood. She arrived home and I could hear a loud, clinking noise close to the front passenger tire, both in idle and while moving.

The mechanic we spoke to earlier believes that the A/C compressor had locked up. I can't really afford a replacement so I was wondering if there was a way to reroute the belt and sacrifice the A/C, or is a replacement unavoidable?