Their $71 million quarterback suffered a career threatening injury. Their team collapsed to a closing record of 7-9, after starting 6-3. To call their future cloudy at the start of 2019 would have been an understatement. But while the Washington Redskins have not yet emerged from obscurity, they’ve found a lantern to light the path.
When Washington signed Alex Smith to an extension worth $94 million after trading for the former Pro Bowler, a new window was formed, for a team with an ascending young core, and an established, if uninspiring head coach. For a time, it looked as if winning ugly would work, in some undefined capacity.