The Kansas City Chiefs have agreed in principle to trade Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins per Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star. After a ton of speculation and rumors surrounding the future of Alex Smith since the Chiefs season ended on wild card weekend, we finally have an answer as to what is going to happen. Paylor broke the story about 2 hours ago, that the Chiefs and Redskins had agreed to a deal that would send Alex Smith to Washington for next season. The trade cannot become fully official until the new league year begins on March 14th, at 3:00 PM ET (2:00 CT). As far as compensation goes, see below:
The #Chiefs traded QB Alex Smith to the #Redskins for a 2018 third-round pick and a player to be named tomorrow, sources say. Solid return, regardless of who the player is.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 31, 2018
I agree with his observation that it’s a solid return. I’m going to be curious to see which player the Chiefs are getting back as part of the deal as well. The Redskins would also waste no time getting Alex locked up long term.
The #Redskins gave QB Alex Smith a 4-year extension worth $94M, source said. He gets a whopping $71M in guarantees.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 31, 2018
So what does this mean for the Chiefs? Well for one, it means that the Patrick Mahomes Era has officially begun! The #10 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft will enter the 2018 NFL Season as the Chiefs projected starting quarterback. For two, it means that the Chiefs save $17 million against the salary cap. That’s massive. The Chiefs have a lot of holes that need filled and that cap space will go a long way toward plugging some of those holes. I couldn’t be more excited for the Chiefs upcoming season, and I also couldn’t be happier for Alex Smith. Smith is getting a long term deal, getting big money, and will be able to retire on his terms at the end of the contract. For all of the criticism I, and many others around the Chiefs Kingdom gave Alex over the years, he was a very good quarterback and he brought stability and consistency to a position that the Chiefs organization had not had since Trent Green. Thanks for the memories Alex, best of luck in the future. For more Chiefs updates keep up at V100rocks.com!
Edit at 10:51 PM.
Source: the player being sent to the Chiefs in the Alex Smith trade is Redskins CB Kendall Fuller.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 31, 2018
All I can say to that is Brett Veach for President! What a steal!
