The Alex Smith Trade To Washington Has Already Shaken Up the NFL Offseason

The shocking move of an offseason that has not even officially started is obviously the Kansas City Chiefs making the decision to move Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins.

Even more stunning was the forthcoming commitment the Redskins presented in not only trading for Smith but giving him a four year extension in the neighborhood of $94 million with $71 million of that guaranteed.

My opinion is this is a good move for the Redskins. This is not a knock on Kirk Cousins either. But Alex Smith does provide short term stability at a “cheaper rate”. Plus if Washington already know Kirk Cousins is not in their long term plans why waste time?

Even more so this trade does shake up some of the priorities for many of the teams looking for quarterback help.

The optics here are obvious. The trade signifies the end of the Kirk Cousins era in DC. Given that he’s the biggest name on the market and will possibly command somewhere in the vicinity of $25-30 million per season, we can finally zero in the teams that will actually vie for his services now that Washington is likely in the rear view mirror.

Then there is of course the upcoming NFL draft. The headliners such as Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield are now going to be squared into focus in the coming weeks.

Should the Cleveland Browns use their #1 pick on a quarterback? The Browns will have 6 picks in the first two rounds including both the #1 and #4 Picks in the draft.

The New York Giants definitely have questions to answer. Although it is widely believed that they will commit to Eli Manning for 2018. Of course that does not necessarily mean they would not draft a quarterback to groom for the future.

Teams like the Jets, Cardinals and Broncos all have questions to answer. Draft a quarterback? Or overpay for for a guy like Cousins.

This is why the Redskins making the move for Alex Smith right in the midst of Super Bowl week was a shock. It now forces teams in their own quarterback quagmire to begin plotting now.

The next few weeks and months are going to absolutely fascinating.



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