The Chiefs will receive cornerback Kendall Fuller from the Redskins as part of the Alex Smith trade, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Kansas City is also acquiring a 2018 third-round pick from Washington.
The Redskins’ decision to part with Fuller in exchange for Smith is fairly surprising given that Fuller is still only 22 years old and performed like one the NFL’s best cornerbacks in 2017. Fuller played two-thirds of Washington’s defensive snaps a season ago and graded as the league’s No. 6 cornerback, per Pro Football Focus. Football Outsiders was also a fan of Fuller’s work, as the former third-round pick ranked second in success rate and eighth in yards per pass allowed.
Fuller’s contract situation is also appealing, as he still has two years left on his rookie deal. While the Redskins have agreed to a four-year, $94MM extension with Smith, Fuller will earn less than $1.5MM from 2018-19. That’s incredibly important for the Chiefs, who were projected to be nearly $10MM over the cap when the 2018 league year began in mid-March.
Now that he’s in Kansas City, Fuller figures to step immediately into the club’s starting lineup opposite fellow cornerback Marcus Peters. The Chiefs ranked just 23rd in pass defense DVOA in 2017, but they now have the opportunity to revamp their secondary, as Terrance Mitchell, Kenneth Acker, and Phillip Gaines are all scheduled to hit free agency in roughly six weeks. Veteran Darrelle Revis is technically under contract for 2018, but he’ll be released before his $10MM guarantee kicks in on March 14.
That’s a picture of Quenton Dunbar
There ya go!
It’s says Fuller on his jersey.
They changed it, hence the “There ya go!”… it was showing a player with jersey number 47, which has been Dunbar’s number for the past few years.
Fuller denied this. According to him he was told he wasn’t being traded
Essentially, any QB trade can be reported that the Browns just missed out or didn’t file.
WOW! The Chiefs did REALLY well on this trade, another desperate move by the Skins.
Great trade! No way is Smith worth that kind of money !
Plus add Fuller with Peters
and Berry
Some say desperate, a lot say very smart…. Capt Kirk worn out his welcome in Washington… can’t get it done will follow him!
If he grades out as a top 6 CB in the league, why does he only have 12 starts in 2 years? That seems odd.
Prolly because he’s a young player who played mostly nickel corner for a team that didn’t always start three corners …
Josh Norman and Breshaud Breeland were ahead of him on the depth chart until about week 4 of this year.
Fuller was far more effective playing slot – as evidenced by his PFF grade of 90. He’s a little on the smaller size, so Breeland and Norman match up better on the outside with the larger receivers in the NFC East… This is a huge loss for the Skins.. with Breeland most likely leaving via free agency they must have a lot of confidence in Moreau and Dunbar.
Agreed. Big loss. Seemed unnecessary to include him in a deal.
Let’s just say he had some very good games and then add that he had some poor ones also… young player that still has a lot of maturing to do… VaTech grad so I wish him well!
Chiefs won this trade by a landslide.
Redskins extending Smith was 3 years too many.
Veteran deal by a rookie GM, congrats to the Chiefs.
For an extra 5 mil you have cousins and keep everything. Don’t get it at all.
If he resigned. Franchising Cousins would’ve been over 30mil,and there’s alot of teams in need of a QB,if he got to the open market. They’ve been negotiating with him for over 2 years now,they obviously weren’t to comfortable with the numbers he was asking for.
If smith was under contract at just under 21 mil for 2018, with the new deal from Washington, isn’t it essentially a three year deal? They gave him almost a 3 mil raise for 2018, and owe him 48 mil over the next ‘three years’….based on the guaranteed money couldn’t they cut bait after the third year of the deal? Similar to the bears essentially signing Glennon to a one year deal?
I just don’t understand why the Redskins keep Cousins, pay him the 23.5M per and keep Fuller and the pick. I truly don’t even think Smith is better than Cousins. Huge L for Washington.
Because Cousins wasn’t resigning for that number
Cousins has been adamant about top pay guys… he has had offers the last two years but loyalty got superseded by good old fashion greed
Why not just draft a QB and franchise Kirk? I can’t see any reason to give up Fuller and a 3rd without getting an upgrade at QB
That would’ve been the smart thing to do. Draft a QB and have Cousins as a bridge. Albeit, an expensive bridge. However, that would’ve been hard to do with pick no. 13… If you don’t do that, the next best option would be to tag Cousins, allow his agent to negotiate with other teams, and then do a sign and trade. You have to remember, the Redskins only get that third round comp pick for Cousins leaving if they don’t sign any big name FA this off-season. With the 6th most cap space in the league and Danny Boy as the owner I can’t imagine them having that type of patience. As it stands, the Redskins are going to lose Cousins with no compensation – which is a crime!
Not sure Cousins coach ever pounded the table and went to bat for him. Not clear why…Smith is solid but not sure he is better than Cousins.