BREAKING NEWS: Redskins agree to acquire Chiefs QB Alex Smith

According to sources, the Washington Redskins have traded for Alex Smith. That spells the end of the Kirk Cousins era in Washington.

The final domino has officially fallen. The Redskins have made their decision. They will no longer be utilizing Kirk Cousins as their starting quarterback.

Late on Tuesday night, Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star reported that the Kansas City Chiefs have agreed in principle to trade Alex Smith to the Redskins. It’s unclear what the exact form of compensation will be in the deal, but NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that it will be a “Mega Deal.” This is a huge step for the Redskins as they look to build for the future.

This decision says two massive things for the team. The first is that they aren’t confident that Cousins would have stayed on a long term deal. Cousins could have been content to ride out the franchise tag for another year and pocket a lot of money. That would have been a sensible option for him, if he was looking for as big a payday as possible.

The second thing this decision tells us is that the team wasn’t entirely confident in Cousins’ ability to be a true franchise quarterback. The cost of Cousins on the open market, where he could have made as much as $30 million per year, always seemed to be prohibitive, and this move seems to indicate that the team finally realized that.

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There are still some questions about whether or not the team will look to trade Cousins via one of the tags. They could opt to slap the transition tag on him, but they have to be confident that they won’t end up with both Cousins and Smith on the roster. If they do, they’ll have no money to spend elsewhere.

Speaking of Smith, let’s be clear about something. He isn’t as good as Cousins. But at the same time, he’s a cheaper alternative who could be capable of leading a team to the playoffs. At age 34, he won’t be much more than a stopgap, which should guarantee that the team goes after a young quarterback in the 2018 NFL Draft. Day 1 options will include Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson while Day 2 options will include Mason Rudolph and Kyle Lauletta. Mike White is another name to keep an eye on.

Also, it’s worth noting that the Redskins were expected to have interest in Smith. In fact, in my quarterback carousel predictions from earlier this offseason, I predicted the team would move on from Cousins and target Smith in a trade. And that’s exactly what happened.

This deal makes a lot of sense. If the Redskins weren’t confident in Cousins but thought they had a legitimate chance to make the playoffs, Smith is the best option they could have gotten. He can slot in as the starter with Colt McCoy as the backup while a rookie is developed. That should set up Jay Gruden’s squad for some success, provided that Smith can continue to perform at a solid clip.

Next: NFL Mock Draft 4.0 - Post-Senior Bowl Mock

As more news breaks about the deal, including the exact compensation, we will have you covered. Keep it here at Riggo’s Rag for all the latest Redskins news.

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