The Kirk Cousins saga finally came to an end this offseason, as the former Washington quarterback left town and signed a three-year, $84 million, fully-guaranteed deal with the Minnesota Vikings. Knowing Cousins was heading out the door, his former team made a bold move to pick up a new starting quarterback before Cousins even left.
Washington sent a third-round pick and cornerback Kendall Fuller to the Kansas City Chiefs for Alex Smith, who they promptly handed a four-year, $94 million contract. At this week's owners meetings, coach Jay Gruden was asked about the transition from Cousins to Smith, and while he didn't necessarily want to compare the two players, he went ahead and compared them anyway.
Asked #Redskins coach Jay Gruden if his team got better at the QB position. Says “without a doubt.” Then explains, not to compare Cousins to Smith, but based on Smith’s credentials, they definitely improved there, which is the goal.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 27, 2018
While we're not exactly sure what credentials Gruden's referring to here, it's not that hard to view Smith as the more well-credentialed passer, even if Cousins may have shown himself to have higher upside over the last few years. Smith has 11 seasons as a starter to Cousins' three, and three Pro Bowl appearances to Cousins' one. He's a former No. 1 overall pick while Cousins was taken in the third round. And he's got a record of 88-62-1 (0.586 winning percentage) compared to Cousins' 26-30-1 record (0.465).
Then again, none of that matters all that much once the players actually step on the field and play. All that will matter come the regular season is if Smith can make the Washington offense hum with greater efficiency and explosiveness than Smith did over the last few years. And whether he can do that remains to be seen.
