Well that didn’t take very long. We haven’t even hit the offseason yet and we have our first big move of the 2018 season with the Redskins swapping a third-round pick and a player to be named later for Alex Smith.
The move will save the Chiefs $17 million in cap space. It will save Washington about $4 million a season and $20 million in guarantees over the next four seasons, as Smith has already agreed to an extension that will average $23.5 million a season and $71 million in guaranteed money. Many have speculated Cousins could get a deal averaging $27 million a year with $90 million guaranteed. Tagging Cousins would have cost the team $34 million in 2018.
We actually suggested the Redskins make this move on Tuesday before news of the trade broke, but Washington committing to Smith for more than the year left on his deal is somewhat surprising. He will be 34 in May and relies heavily on his athleticism.
Considering the money the Redskins did save, you’d have to consider this deal a success for the team. At least compared to the other option of signing Cousins to a big deal. They get a quarterback who is as talented as Cousins at a cheaper price. There’s nothing that Cousins did for the Redskins that Smith won’t be able to do, and the addition of a more mobile quarterback allows Washington to get more creative in the run game. Jay Gruden is too smart of a coach not to adopt some of the college-inspired concepts that help turn the Chiefs offense into an unstoppable force at times during the 2017 season.
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Signing Cousins to a massive long-term deal would have made it difficult for Washington to improve its roster. But with the money they saved by dealing for Smith, they should have over $20 million in cap room (before making cap-cutting moves) to work with this offseason. That’s plenty for a team that needs only a few pieces and better injury luck to make a playoff run in 2018. That probably wasn’t happening with Cousins taking up a large chunk of the cap.
Cousins is a decent talent but far too reliant on the players around him to pay a cap-breaking amount of money. Here’s what his former general manager Scot McCloughan had to say about Cousins in a recent interview with 104.3 The Fan in Denver…
Via The Washington Post:
“He’s a good player,” McCloughan told Mike Pritchard and Cecil Lammey. “Is he special? I don’t see special. But also, we were still building a roster around him to make him special. Jay Gruden does a great job play-calling. [Former Redskins offensive coordinator-turned-Los Angeles Rams Coach] Sean McVay did a great job play-calling to put him in positions to be successful.”
You pay $120 million for special — not merely good.
Washington was ripped to shreds for its handling of Cousins’ contract, but, in hindsight, the front office handled it perfectly. They didn’t give into Cousins and overpay for a good-but-not great quarterback, knowing that the 2018 offseason would offer plenty of viable replacement options at a cheaper cost.
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The Redskins’ patience paid off. As did their urgency in targeting their man and making a deal for him before any of the other interested teams could. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that as many as six teams had inquired about the Smith. Washington had competition.
As happy as the Redskins should be after this move, Cousins will be even happier. He will be the first franchise quarterback without health concerns to hit free agency in a long time. Some desperate team, whether it’s Cleveland, Denver or New York, is going to hand him a mega deal without really knowing what they’ll get in return.
On the other hand, Washington knows exactly what it’s getting: A good, smart quarterback who won’t throw them out of games (as Cousins did on occasion) and will have no problem running Gruden’s offense. The Redskins are a better team now than they were on Tuesday morning.