Washington Commanders thread

Would you take Smith for a couple of years? Baker Mayfield to develop behind him?

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman wrote: »

Would you take Smith for a couple of years? Baker Mayfield to develop behind him?

I would yeah. Especially if he only cost a middle round pick. Don’t know about Mayfield though (although to be fair, I don’t watch too much college football)

jack presley wrote: »

I would yeah. Especially if he only cost a middle round pick. Don’t know about Mayfield though (although to be fair, I don’t watch too much college football)

Mayfield is boom or bust no doubt about it. All the talent in the world in terms of his ability to throw the ball, has some issues with his movement in the pocket, partially because of his size. But he has an IT factor and he's a real team leader. I think he's worth a shot if we can get him in the draft.

I like Alex Smith, seems like a genuine dude.

Entertaining enough interview with Kirk today. Very politician like though, saying loads without saying anything (as expected). If you were just dropped in from space and this was the first you'd heard about this, you'd probably think that he'd definitely be here next year but I still won't be surprised if (when?) he walks away. I can't remember who said it but the Redskins/Kirk thing is like a divorce where neither of the parties want to be the one to say they're leaving and be seen as the bad guy.

Looks like it'll be months before we know for sure what's going to happen though.

He comes across as a very nice bloke though.

Edit - Also didn't realise until today that his agent's name is Mike McCartney and everytime he mentioned his name I had to do a double take thinking he was talking about Mike McCarthy and thought he was signing with the Packers.

I like Kevin Sheehan on ESPN 980 and here's his opinion on yesterday's interview.

http://www.espn980.com/2018/01/05/cousins-interview/

If its not Cousins it's going to be a free agent so Keenum, Smith, Bridgewater , Bradford, Tyrod Taylor, Kaepernick

I think more than likely Alex Smith would be a good fit for what Gruden wants to do but I dont know if we would give Smith a chance to win and he wants that more than likely. In fact for all those Qb's I think Arizona, Buffalo, Vikings are obviously all better fits, with a much better win now position. I even think there is a likelyhood that the Jags move on from Bortles to one of those Free agents.

We'll be bottom of the ladder which is why we should sign up Cousins to a long contract IMO.

I reckon they’ll end up with Bradford. Typical boring signing.

jack presley wrote: »

I reckon they’ll end up with Bradford. Typical boring signing.

Makes sense. Lack of imagination and forward progress.

About a month ago, San Francisco and Jacksonville were two teams favoured to be possible destinations for Cousins. Well Jimmy G's sealed the SF gig and the way Bortles is playing tonight, you could probably mark Jacksonville off the list now too.

Still a few suitors though I'm sure. Denver for one.

jack presley wrote: »

About a month ago, San Francisco and Jacksonville were two teams favoured to be possible destinations for Cousins. Well Jimmy G's sealed the SF gig and the way Bortles is playing tonight, you could probably mark Jacksonville off the list now too.

Still a few suitors though I'm sure. Denver for one.

Jacksonville will still look at Cousins IMO he's a vastly superior passer to Bortles.

I think though from what I am hearing coming out of Washington there is every chance we pay up for Cousins.

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman wrote: »

Jacksonville will still look at Cousins IMO he's a vastly superior passer to Bortles.

I think though from what I am hearing coming out of Washington there is every chance we pay up for Cousins.

Does he want to play here though? That's the bigger question I think.

jack presley wrote: »

Does he want to play here though? That's the bigger question I think.

I think he believes that when fit we have an O Line that can allow him to be successful.

I'm sure Cousins is driven by a need to succeed and to get paid. I think we have a chance at keeping him but we are going to have to pay big $.

Nick Foles might be an interesting alternative to Cousins

I’m actually sick of the whole QB situation now and took the decision about a week ago to tune out until it is finalized.

I am usually a big listener of Washington sports talk radio (either ESPN 980 or 106.7 The Fan) but it’s all “will he sign, won’t he sign, where will be play, who will they sign instead” etc. and I’ve had enough so I’ve stopped listening. I’ve also stopped reading Redskins news on the net too as that’s more of the same.

No one knows anything at this stage so radio stations are filling time and blogs are filling space with pure guesswork and speculation.

I’ll re-engage in March/April when there’s actual news of KC signing, either for Washington or somewhere else.

jack presley wrote: »

I’m actually sick of the whole QB situation now and took the decision about a week ago to tune out until it is finalized.

I am usually a big listener of Washington sports talk radio (either ESPN 980 or 106.7 The Fan) but it’s all “will he sign, won’t he sign, where will be play, who will they sign instead” etc. and I’ve had enough so I’ve stopped listening. I’ve also stopped reading Redskins news on the net too as that’s more of the same.

No one knows anything at this stage so radio stations are filling time and blogs are filling space with pure guesswork and speculation.

I’ll re-engage in March/April when there’s actual news of KC signing, either for Washington or somewhere else.

So even in the off season the Redskins disappoint you

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman wrote: »

So even in the off season the Redskins disappoint you

Well to be fair, it’s not the Redskins at fault as we are where we are with the QB situation.

I’ve just had enough of the media having to fill space when there’s nothing to report.

jack presley wrote: »

Well to be fair, it’s not the Redskins at fault as we are where we are with the QB situation.

I’ve just had enough of the media having to fill space when there’s nothing to report.

One could definitely argue that it's completely the Redskins fault should have signed him up 2 years ago.

With all that said at least there should be plenty of interesting options on the market.

jack presley wrote: »

Well to be fair, it’s not the Redskins at fault as we are where we are with the QB situation.

I'd have to agree to disagree there..

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman wrote: »

One could definitely argue that it's completely the Redskins fault should have signed him up 2 years ago.

With all that said at least there should be plenty of interesting options on the market.

Ah yeah, the current predicament is all their own making but I’m on about the media’s non stop covering of it. That’s my current issue.

Looks like or I can tune back in again. Happy enough with Smith. Ok he’s not Joe Montana and probably is a drop off from Kirk, but he’s not the worst and it puts an end to the drama once and for all and isn’t going to be as big a cap hit as Cousins would be (albeit only very slightly). Sad to see Fuller go though, he was good I thought.

Didn’t see this move coming at this time at all. Very surprised to read it this morning

gerryfed

Was definitely out of left field for me. I don't hate it though. Smith looked fantastic at times this year, and was probably our best option outside overpaying Kirk and the growing pains of a rookie. Definitely a shame to see Fuller go

Guess they figured it was a lot easier to replace him in the draft then Kirk. I see Scott had to get a shot in at us over parting with him too... shock.

Do we have any options for getting a return for Cousins? Could we tag him and trade him? Gives whoever (Browns) the head start on him before Free Agency. Even if we could recoup the 3rd! Or do we have the option to trade him now and let whoever sort out the tag/long term deal? Not sure how that works...

https://twitter.com/kefu11er/status/958567846459658245

I don't see the logic in it at all. Think we've been absolutely fleeced too.

We aren't winning with Alex Smith and we're overpaying him at 23.5 mill a year.

If moving on from Cousins the move to make was to spend a high pick on a QB and let him develop behind McCoy. Now we've got an aging QB, lost a high pick and traded one of the best slot CB's in the league instead. Made a complete balls of the situation from the start but think we've just managed to make it worse. Such a short-sighted move.

gerryfed

Morrison J wrote: »

I don't see the logic in it at all. Think we've been absolutely fleeced too.

We aren't winning with Alex Smith and we're overpaying him at 23.5 mill a year.

If moving on from Cousins the move to make was to spend a high pick on a QB and let him develop behind McCoy. Now we've got an aging QB, lost a high pick and traded one of the best slot CB's in the league instead. Made a complete balls of the situation from the start but think we've just managed to make it worse. Such a short-sighted move.

If we had a top 5 pick or collateral to move up, I could understand the rookie QB option. But at pick 13, we'd be hoping someone landed in our lap and whoever that was might be our 4th/5th pick of the rookie QBs. Or else we'd have to mortgage the house like with RG3 and try move up to take our 1st/2nd choice.

Sucks losing Fuller alright, but I think it'll be a lot easier to replace him with a 2nd/4th pick then it would be on hitting on a QB.

Plus' and minus' for both sides of the deal though for sure.

gerryfed wrote: »

Plus' and minus' for both sides of the deal though for sure.

That’s it. They’ve been in a hole (self inflicted?) ever since they didn’t sign KC two seasons ago and they had to stop digging sometime.

Obviously it’s not the best outcome to the QB situation but it could have ended up worse so I think I’m content enough with the move.

gerryfed

jack presley wrote: »

That’s it. They’ve been in a hole (self inflicted?) ever since they didn’t sign KC two seasons ago and they had to stop digging sometime.

Obviously it’s not the best outcome to the QB situation but it could have ended up worse so I think I’m content enough with the move.

That's it. Be interesting to see what Cousins deal is worth, might be easier to compare then how well we done.

Atleast we still have the 1st/2nd rounder and cap space (compared to a new Cousins deal) to improve the team. We should atleast be competitive for the next few years. Hopefully we can hit on a mid-late QB for the long term

A good summary of events I think

https://twitter.com/joebanner13/status/958704574348644352

gerryfed wrote: »

If we had a top 5 pick or collateral to move up, I could understand the rookie QB option. But at pick 13, we'd be hoping someone landed in our lap and whoever that was might be our 4th/5th pick of the rookie QBs. Or else we'd have to mortgage the house like with RG3 and try move up to take our 1st/2nd choice.

Sucks losing Fuller alright, but I think it'll be a lot easier to replace him with a 2nd/4th pick then it would be on hitting on a QB.

Plus' and minus' for both sides of the deal though for sure.

You don't need a top 5 pick to get your franchise QB. There's a million examples even Cousins himself or Mahomes who the Chiefs are going forward with. It's difficult to draft an elite QB but to get a Smith esque game manager? Not at all.

This is such a short sighted move and looks to me like Bruce Allen knows his job is in jeopardy if they don't win now. Trying to win now is going to be detrimental to our future though as this roster is 8-8 at the very very best.

I'm usually the optimistic one but I don't see the pluses for us in this deal at all.

We've downgraded to an older, worse QB. CB was one of our strongest positions, now it's a weakness given both Breeland and Fuller are gone. We give away a 3rd round pick. How we get a B+ for that trade given everything I've no idea.

The players reactions on social media says it all. Pretty much all of them rightly pissed off.

Morrison J wrote: »

You don't need a top 5 pick to get your franchise QB. There's a million examples even Cousins himself or Mahomes who the Chiefs are going forward with. It's difficult to draft an elite QB but to get a Smith esque game manager? Not at all.

This is such a short sighted move and looks to me like Bruce Allen knows his job is in jeopardy if they don't win now. Trying to win now is going to be detrimental to our future though as this roster is 8-8 at the very very best.

I'm usually the optimistic one but I don't see the pluses for us in this deal at all.

We've downgraded to an older, worse QB. CB was one of our strongest positions, now it's a weakness given both Breeland and Fuller are gone. We give away a 3rd round pick. How we get a B+ for that trade given everything I've no idea.

The players reactions on social media says it all. Pretty much all of them rightly pissed off.

They get the 3rd round pick back next season (as Cousins will leave as a free agent) so it's really a Fuller for Smith trade.

As for the grade, the general consensus was that Cousins wanted out and wasn't going to be there next season so the alternatives (2nd/3rd round rookie, McCoy, Tyrod Taylor etc.) weren't great and at least they now have a semi-seviceable QB under contract for next season.

I also disagree that Smith is a 'worse' QB. if he is, it is marginal although I'm with you on the age thing.