By: Joe Pohoryles
Over three years ago, the Washington Football Team made a move to stabilize the quarterback position, trading cornerback Kendall Fuller and a 2018 third-round pick to the Kansas City Chiefs for Alex Smith.
With Kirk Cousins heading out the door (he signed with the Vikings two months later), and with the Chiefs ready to unlock Patrick Mahomes, Smith and Washington became a good match.
Smith, who was a Pro Bowler in 2016 and 2017, would bring solid play to the Washington offense, allowing the team to build the rest of the roster before bringing in a longterm franchise face (ideally). The four-year/$94 million deal seemed pricey, but would be well worth the investment, assuming Smith could stay on the field.
But this is the Washington Football Team, so of course it didn’t work out as expected. A whole Disney movie later, and here we are today: Smith was officially released, clearing nearly $15 million in cap space.
So who won the trade? Clearly Kansas City, who has made three straight AFC Championship appearances and two Super Bowl trips (winning one), has been the big winner.
However, when looking at the trade pieces sent to the Chiefs in the deal and what Washington ultimately gained, it wasn’t really lopsided. Fuller helped Kansas City win the championship, then immediately returned to Washington in free agency. He’s now a top defensive back on the team.
The 2018 third-rounder, the 78th overall pick, was traded with the 54th pick by the Chiefs in exchange for the Bengals’ second-rounder (46th) and fifth-rounder (100th). With No. 46, Kansas City selected defensive end Breeland Speaks, who made played all 16 games in 2018 (four starts) before spending all of the 2019 championship season on injured reserve.
Speaks served a four-game suspension for a substance-abuse policy violation during that stretch in 2019 and was waived prior to the 2020 season. He’s bounced around a few practice squads and most recently signed a future/reserves contract with the Giants for 2021. Not the best start for a second-round pick.
The 100th pick was used on OLB Dorian O’Daniel, who amassed just one sack (the only one of his career) and nine total tackles in 11 games last season. Again, not a game-changer by any means.
So at the end of the day, Washington didn’t give up all that much in terms of assets, especially with Fuller returning just two years later. Kansas City ultimately won a championship, but that had little to do with what Washington sent their way.
The biggest loss was the contract size, and that wasn’t even Smith’s fault. Smith wasn’t lighting it up prior to his injury, but he was winning games. Washington was 6-3 and leading the division entering the game that Smith went down. The complete mess of a quarterback situation ruined the rest of the season, as the team finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs.
The low hopes of Smith returning prompted the team to draft Dwayne Haskins, which was a disaster. Had Smith stayed healthy, the team probably would have avoided the Ohio State quarterback and would have been able to take Montez Sweat (originally going 26th) without having to part ways with the 2020 second-rounder.
That would have been nice, but with a healthy Smith leading the way in 2019, I’d have a hard time believing the team would be bad enough to get the second overall pick for 2020, which of course turned out to be Chase Young.
Even though Smith didn’t work out quite as well as expected (and to absolutely no fault of Smith), the trade worked out much better than it may seem at the surface.
In taking on Smith, one of the few Washington quarterbacks of the past 20 years with a winning record (11-5), Washington wasted the 15th pick on Haskins, but still netted Sweat and Young, as well as an NFC East division title.
All it cost were two years of Fuller, who eventually returned, plus one pick that turned into two reserve defensive players and the 34th overall pick in 2020, which ended up being Michael Pittman Jr.
A young receiver like Pittman would be nice to have right now, but his loss isn’t a back-breaker. And while the quarterback position is still unsolved, the team would still be looking for a replacement if Smith played out his entire contract anyway.
When looking at what Washington gained from a personnel and cultural standpoint compared to the little they lost, I’d still make this trade another 10 out of 10 times.
Smith would deserve all the respect in the world even if the trade was a complete disaster, and even though his stint in Washington wasn’t what it should have been, it still reaped plenty of benefits.
Thank you, Alex Smith. On behalf of all Washington fans, I wish you the best wherever your career takes you next.
Cover Photo Credit: Derik Hamilton/Associated Press
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