Redskins trade for Alex Smith

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by sandtrapjack

Not sure I agree.

Just saying, Smith got guaranteed money from Washington at around 71 million over 4 years. What makes more sense? 71 million guaranteed (in 2015) for a 20-something who has surpassed 4,000 yards each season as a starter? Or 71 million guaranteed for a 34 year old starter who has surpassed 4,000 yards only once in 12 years?

Cousins is your franchise leader in passing yards in a single season. If you check the passing leaders by year for the Redskins history, you will see that 3 of the top 5 seasons (1,2 and 4) are held by Cousins.

How does the team NOT extend this guy?

1) He didn't ever even enter into real negotiations including the first year. People in hindsight are saying we should have paid him, but if we had signed him to a deal he might have signed, and we had the years we had, the contract would have been considered a mistake.

2) He was asking more at each point than he was worth. See DeMarcus Murray as an example of a team letting a team leader go when the contract demands are too high.

3) He simply didn't want to be here. No team can waive a wand and extend a player that isn't negotiating.

It's not rocket science.