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Redskins trade shows clear gap between Bruce Allen and McCloughan

By Ian Cummings

ASHBURN, VA - JANUARY 04: Washington Redskins General Manager Bruce Allen leaves after holding a press conference on the dismissal of Head Coach Jim Zorn at Redskins Park January 4, 2010 in Ashburn, Virginia. During the press conference Allen said, 'Last place 2 years in a row is not Redskin football.' (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
ASHBURN, VA - JANUARY 04: Washington Redskins General Manager Bruce Allen leaves after holding a press conference on the dismissal of Head Coach Jim Zorn at Redskins Park January 4, 2010 in Ashburn, Virginia. During the press conference Allen said, 'Last place 2 years in a row is not Redskin football.' (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) /
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The Washington Redskins didn’t have to do anything crazy. They did anyway.

Last night, waves were made when news broke out that the Washington Redskins had agreed to trade for Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback Alex Smith. The initial reports were met with excitement, as the quarterback situation had now been solved. But when it was revealed that Kendall Fuller would be moving to Kansas City as part of the trade, reactions were quick to change.

Kendall Fuller was one of the best graded cornerbacks in the NFL last year, and at just 22 years old, he appeared to be due for a long, prosperous tenure as a key piece of the Washington Redskins’ defense.

For this reason, and many others, this move is a baffling one. But in the grand scheme of things, it is nothing more than another spawn of calamity bred by D.C.’s own Bruce Allen, a team president (here at Riggo’s Rag, lost the title of general manager overnight) with a troubling propensity for making bad deals.

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The Washington Redskins may have dug this hole for themselves. It was Scot McCloughan who refused to pay Kirk Cousins for $19 million a year in 2015. The subsequent result was consecutive franchise tags in the next two years, and endless debate in the capital on whether Kirk Cousins was the man of the future.

Now we know he isn’t. But in the process of acquiring his successor, Alex Smith, the Washington Redskins have effectively placed their own future in jeopardy.

It is here that the discrepancy between Bruce Allen and Scot McCloughan. The Washington Redskins didn’t have to do anything crazy. They had a serviceable bridge quarterback in Colt McCoy, and they could have easily grabbed a future starter, like Kyle Lauletta, in the second or third round of the NFL Draft. They didn’t have to ship away Fuller. McCloughan wouldn’t have done it.

But Bruce Allen did. And now the future will be set back another four years. Yes, the roster was nearly ready for a playoff run, provided that a quarterback was in place. But that was before Fuller was traded.

Trading your most promising young players is never a formula for success, but if there’s an algebra class to come up with such a formula, Bruce Allen hasn’t taken it. He seems better suited for the theatrics department. Bruce Allen is willing to take more risks. Those risks are calculated. But they do not always work.

Next: Grading the Washington Redskins' trade for Alex Smith

That’s where Allen and McCloughan are different. McCloughan wasn’t perfect. But he knew what to do, and more importantly, what not to do.

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