Cross Alex Smith Off Your List; Vikings QB Search Narrows After Trade
Dear Major League Baseball: Take notes. While your free agency period has started out slower than your pace of play, the NBA and NFL are out here making moves. The day after the Los Angeles Clippers traded 5x All-Star Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons, America’s most popular sports league completed a blockbuster transaction of their own.
BREAKING VIA @terezpaylor: #Chiefs trade Alex Smith to Washington, saving $17 million. https://t.co/eyDHEfKI1D
— Jeff Rosen (@jeff_rosen88) January 31, 2018
With the departure of Smith, KC will now hand their offensive reigns over to gunslinging 2017 first-round draft pick, Patrick Mahomes. On top of saving $17 million with the QB swap, in return for the Utah Alum, the Chiefs will receive a third round draft and Kendall Fuller. A cornerback, Fuller is considered a “bonafide starter.”
As for Washington, first and foremost, that’s a wrap on the Kirk Cousins tenure. It is assured that the free agent quarterback will move onto his second NFL team. With Cousins destined for an approximate $120 million payday, the Daniel Snyder-owned organization decided to save some money (kind of) by trading for, and then extending, Alex Smith to a 4 year deal that will average $23.5 million annually.
Remember – Dan Snyder wouldn’t entertain 5-yr/$40M deal Scot McCloughan wanted offer Cousins when he became starter. Would still be signed..
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) January 31, 2018
Whoops!
In conclusion, most Washington fans seem to feel like they just got punched in their beer bellies. Unfortunately for them, this isn’t those folks’ first rodeo. Questionable quarterback moves are par for that franchise’s course. In 2010 they traded for a well past his prime, Donavon McNabb. The couple of picks they departed with in that maneuver were nothing compared to the still lingering 2012 NFL Draft Scenario:
Some how…Some way…they will blame this on me. No doubt ??♂️
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) January 31, 2018
Now, what does this mean for the Vikings? Well, let’s just get out our nice little quarterback’s list from last week, when I laid out the options for the Vikings heading into the offseason:
- A) Resign or Franchise Tag Case Keenum & make him the starter.
- B) Resign Teddy Bridgewater & make him the starter.
- C) Resign Sam Bradford & make him the starter.
- D) Sign Kirk Cousins & make him the starter.
- E)
Trade for Alex Smith & make him the starter.
Well, it’s one option off of the list. Some would say the best option. Alex Smith probably wasn’t the guy in the cape that we SKOL fans are waiting for. He probably wasn’t the prince to gently kiss Minnesota on the lips, awakening us from our coma of average quarterbacks that can’t lead us to the promise land.
However, he was a very good option for what the purple have to choose from. Alex Smith was the happy-medium that some fans were looking for. He provided the experience and has the reputation for exactly what Zimmer looks for in a QB. He is cautious but can make plays, when called upon. He isn’t 40 but he isn’t 26 and coming off of a knee injury either. Nonetheless, I’m also not paying an average QB for the next 5 years at a ridiculous amount like Washington just di either.
So, we are writing Alex Smith’s ass off our list. We’re moving on.
Things are a little clearer today than they were yesterday. Unless another option comes flying through the proverbial window, we are down to 4 guys. Keenum is the guy who overachieved last year but you just aren’t sure that will continue, especially with Shurmur gone.
Bradford is the guy Zimmer would like to have, if his knees weren’t rotting away worse than the pumpkins still remaining in the patch after Halloween. And Teddy… well we all love Teddy. But, the thought of throwing a Super Bowl-caliber team on his shoulders when he hasn’t played in essentially 2 years is a scary thought. We have no idea where his development will be after those two seasons.
And don’t sign Kirk Cousins. I wish I could cross that shit off right now. It should say something that Washington refused to commit to him for 3 years but then turned around and put a 5-year wedding ring on a chick who might prove to be uglier when it is all said and done. Cousins is a good quarterback but he isn’t worth the $25M+ someone will pay him.
So, we’ll wait. No state better at that than this one….
Johnny Minnesota @TheJohnnyMN &
Eric Strack @RealMNSportsFan
Minnesota Sports Fan MinnesotaSportsFan.com
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