Reactions To Alex Smith Trade

It was widely rumored that the Chiefs would trade Alex Smith this offseason, but few expected him to be moved in January and almost no one saw him going to the Redskins. But, on Tuesday night, Kansas City and Washington agreed to a blockbuster deal which will have far-reaching implications around the NFL. Here’s a look at some of the reactions following the mega-trade:

• Cornerback Kendall Fuller was a vital part of the Redskins and a tough piece to part with, ESPN.com’s John Keim writes. Fuller, who earned a tremendous 90.0 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in 2017, was one of the best pieces of Washington’s D. Meanwhile, fellow cornerback Bashaud Breeland is scheduled for free agency, so Washington could have multiple holes to fill in the secondary.Keim also feels that it’s tough to justify the extension for Smith which will reportedly pay him at an average of $23.5MM per year with $71MM guaranteed. Then again, the full details of the extension have yet to surface, so the deal might be more palatable for Washington if they can easily escape the contract after the first year or two.
• The Smith deal means that Kirk Cousins will finally hit free agency and Mike Sando of ESPN.com lists the Cardinals, Browns, Broncos, Bills, Jets, Dolphins, Jaguars, Vikings, Giants, Buccaneers, and Colts as possible landing spots. Still, it’s not a given that all of these teams will make a run at him. The Cardinals would almost certainly like to add someone of Cousins’ caliber, but their cap room is an issue. The Buccaneers already have Jameis Winston under center, so it’s not especially likely that they’ll make a serious play for Cousins. Cousins signing with the Colts would be a shock – to say the least – given that Andrew Luck is expected to come back healthy in 2018. The Jaguars, who have less cap room than most of the teams listed here, may want to stick with Blake Bortles after reaching the AFC Championship Game. The Vikings, meanwhile, have three starting-caliber quarterbacks about to hit the free agent market and logic dictates that they will try to retain one of them (most likely Case Keenum).
• In a sense, the Redskins’ sacrifice of a third-round pick in this year’s draft will be offset by the likely addition of a third-round compensatory pick in 2019 gained after Cousins signs elsewhere, as Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports tweets. The Redskins also will have more cap room to work with in the coming years with Smith under center rather than Cousins.
• The Redskins did a good job of fixing the mess they made with Cousins, but Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com refuses to congratulate owner Daniel Snyder and president Bruce Allen for creating the mess in the first place. The Redskins also could have gotten a better return for Cousins by franchising him for a third season at $34.5MM and fielding trade offers from teams that would have acquired him and extended him to reduce the cap hold. Now that they have Smith under contract with a $20MM+ cap charge in 2018, they have no choice but to allow Cousins to walk.
• More from Barnwell, who writes that it’s too early to grade the trade for the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes is a high-ceiling, low-floor option for 2018 and even under the best of circumstances, there should be some growing pains. Still, Barnwell believes that Kansas City got a tremendous talent in Fuller. Fuller emerged as an excellent slot cornerback last season and still has two years left on his rookie deal at a combined cost of less than $1.4MM. The Chiefs may put Fuller on the outside to see if he can be their new CB2 opposite of Marcus Peters, but they could also leave him in the slot and use him as a roving weapon.
• Multiple teams expressed some interest in trading for Smith, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears. One source tells Schefter that six clubs reached out to Kansas City to try and trade for the veteran. We know that the Cardinals and Browns both had interest in acquiring the soon-to-be 34-year-old.
• Fun fact: Smith is the first QB to lead the NFL in touchdown-to-interception ratio (26 TD, 5 Int, a 5.2 ratio) in one season and then change teams the following year, according to the Elias Sports Bureau (Twitter link).