Alex Smith trade: Redskins acquire Chiefs quarterback in exchange for picks and player

Despite the fact that trades can’t be officially finalized until the new NFL league year begins in March, the Washington Redskins and Kansas City Chiefs reportedly agreed to a big deal on Tuesday night.

Alex Smith is now set to be a member of the Washington Redskins.

In return for Smith, the Chiefs received a 2018 third-round pick from Washington in addition to cornerback Kendall Fuller.

There’s a lot of takeaways from this trade. First is that Smith is the new franchise quarterback in Washington, which ... LolSkins. Washington reportedly signed Smith, who turns 34 in May, to a four-year extension worth $70 million guaranteed. His new contract comes out to $23.5 million per year.

The perception of Smith is polarizing. He’s certainly not a TERRIBLE quarterback. Smith is 88-62-1 as a starter. He’s thrown 183 touchdowns to 96 interceptions for a career 87.4 passer rating. Speaking of passer rating, he led the NFL in that category in 2017.

But, come on, this is Alex Smith we’re talking about here. This guy is good at not turning the ball over, yeah, because he has a penchant for taking sacks and not being aggressive with throws down the field. The former No. 1 overall pick can help you win games in the regular season, but he’s likely going to limit the team’s ceiling when it comes to actual contending for a title.

Another obvious angle to this deal is that Kirk Cousisn won’t be returning to Washington, which should not come as a surprise. There was no reason for Cousins to not test the open market. He’s in a unique position to make a ton of money this offseason.

Cousins leaving Washington is good and bad news for the Eagles. It’s good because he’s had success against Philadelphia in recent years. It’s bad because it would’ve been great for Washington to have to drastically overpay him and limit their ability to build around him.

But at least Washington is now overpaying an even older quarterback while also giving up a decent draft pick and a good starting corner in the process. You gotta love Dan Snyder.

This trade is good news for the Eagles. It’s not the best case scenario for Philadelphia; that would’ve been Washington convincing themselves they could re-sign Cousins near free agency only for him to leave and then be stuck with only Colt McCoy at quarterback. Smith is definitely better than McCoy.

But Smith doesn’t elevate the talent on their roster. And Washington’s commitment to him could rule them out of drafting a top young quarterback with a potential higher ceiling than Smith.

To summarize: LolSkins.

Thanks for helping out the Eagles, Andy Reid.

For more reaction to this deal, check out our friends at Hogs Haven and Arrowhead Pride.