NEWSLETTER
The NFL offseason hasn’t even officially started and football’s hot stove is already lit.
Sources tell Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star that the Chiefs have agreed to trade quarterback Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport confirms Paylor’s report and adds some details to the developing situation. Rapoport initially reported picks and a player were involved in the deal, which can’t officially go through until the start of the new league year, which starts at 3 p.m. central on March 14.
Once it can become official, here is what it will look like:
In Alex Smith trade, Chiefs will receive third-round pick And CB Kendall Fuller, per @FieldYates. So there’s the trade.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 31, 2018
Not only did Washington make a big trade, they made sure to lock in their quarterback for the next five seasons. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the two sides have agreed on a four-year contract extension, something Washington and Cousins could never agree upon.
We’ll have more on the extension tomorrow, but here is the latest from Rapoport:
The #Redskins gave QB Alex Smith a 4-year extension worth $94M, source said. He gets a whopping $71M in guarantees.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 31, 2018
Smith’s extension removes the Redskins from the group of teams that could draft a quarterback in the first round. From a Bears perspective, it means there is one less team vying to trade up to select a quarterback-of-the-future type on the chance that kind of player slips to No. 8. Aw, shucks!
Things started well enough for Cousins in Washington. He led Washington to the playoffs in his first year as a starter in 2015, completing a league-leading 69.8 percent of his passes while throwing for 4,166 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. Cousins made the Pro Bowl in his second year as a full-time starter, but the team missed the playoffs in each of two seasons as the team went 15-16-1. Starting in March, Cousins will be free to explore the open market, where teams like the Browns, Broncos, Jets, and others will be in the running for his services.
As for Kansas City, the move thrusts 2017 first-round pick Patrick Mahomes into a starting role. And that’s how the shake-up of the 2018 quarterback market begins. Stay tuned. Business is about to pick up on the NFL rumor mill.
