Redskins Trades: Grading the Alex Smith, Kendall Fuller swap
The Washington Redskins made a blockbuster deal on Tuesday night. And it appears that they came out on the wrong end of it.
When the Washington Redskins initially made the move to acquire Alex Smith on Tuesday night, it was viewed with some optimism. The acquisition meant that the team would avoid spending a record-breaking amount on Kirk Cousins and they could focus on upgrading other areas of the defense. Instead, it appears that they have made a massive mistake.
The original reports about the trade indicated that the Redskins would be giving up a third round pick and an unknown player for Smith. Many assumed this would be Su’a Cravens, a talented safety who had inexplicably left the team before the season. It didn’t seem like they wanted him back, so that made logical sense.
But logic is a stranger to the Redskins at times. And in this circumstance, the team elected to send slot cornerback Kendall Fuller to the Chiefs. Fuller, a second year pro, was coming off the best season of his career. Reunited with his former defensive backs coach Torrian Gray, Fuller became an elite slot corner and graded out as the No. 6 corner in all of football, per Pro Football Focus. Now, it appears that he will be suiting up for the Kansas City Chiefs.
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This is obviously bad news for the team. Fuller was arguably their top defensive player during the season and even if he had regressed, he still would have been an above average slot man. Giving him up with a third round pick to get a quarterback who will turn 34 in the 2018 offseason seems like an awful move.
Conversely, the Chiefs pulled off a highway robbery here. They got Fuller to start either across from Marcus Peters or in the slot and that will do a lot to help them out. Down the stretch, they played the washed up Darrelle Revis as a starter, so the Chiefs were able to upgrade a major position of need while giving up a player who they were always going to trade.
The one potential silver lining is that this decision may make the Redskins momentarily think about signing Bashaud Breeland to a deal. Even so, he wouldn’t fill in for Fuller, as he’s not a slot player. In all likelihood, the team would consider signing him to a deal to start while moving Fabian Moreau to the slot. Perhaps Moreau could succeed, but even if Breeland were retained, which is a massive if, the Redskins would still lose this deal by a wide margin.
Next: Predicting the results of the 2018 quarterback carousel
At the end of the day, the Redskins gave up a 22-year-old, up-and-coming star cornerback AND a third round pick for an average quarterback who they then signed to a massive extension. This makes little sense and the Redskins definitely failed these negotiations. So, they get a failing grade for the trade.