The Kansas City Chiefs wasted no time in moving their starting quarterback this offseason in a surprise deal to the Washington Redskins.
It didn’t take long for Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach to take care of the primary order of business this offseason.
Instead of allowing questions about Alex Smith’s status to linger over any part of the Chiefs offseason, Veach dealt the team’s starting quarterback for the last five seasons to the Washington Redskins.
The bounty was first reported as an unidentified player and draft pick, but since then, reports have been updated to show that Washington surrendered a third round pick plus a player.
Trade term update: Washington is sending KC a third-round pick and an unidentified player for QB Alex Smith, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 31, 2018
Even this week during his recent Pro Bowl appearance and on various sports talk shows, Smith has been making the rounds at interviews talking about the tension of not knowing about his future and even speaking about how much he’d like to stay in Kansas City. It’s clear the Chiefs were ready to simply move on and avoid any clouds hanging overhead—this team now belongs to Patrick Mahomes.
It will be interesting to see how the quarterback market shifts during the offseason based on where some of Smith’s colleagues among available signal callers end up. Perhaps the Chiefs could have held out for something bigger. Then again, taking a deal when you can removes any guess work and minimizes the risk, and clearly Veach liked the deal enough to pull the trigger knowing he had one of the most valuable trade assets on the market available to him.
Trading Smith now clears up $17 million for the team to be able to make some moves in free agency as they are now under the cap for the first time in a while. Other moves with linebackers Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson should enable them to get even further under the cap to be able to fill some important holes, especially on the defensive side.
Smith enjoyed a career year in Kansas City this season at the age of 33, setting career marks in passing yards, touchdowns and tying a career low in interceptions.