Amid a trade for Alex Smith and a divorce from Kirk Cousins, I think the Washington football team quietly made NFL history this offseason and nobody is really talking about it: they walked away from a traditional “franchise quarterback” in the middle of his career. This is simply something that is rarely ever allowed to happen, and trust that Washington did in fact “let it happen.” The NFL is designed in such a way that good quarterbacks are beholden to their franchises for years, and often don’t complain because they’re at least being rewarded with tens of millions of dollars.
The controversial strategy of replacing your franchise quarterback
