How the New York Giants benefit from the Alex Smith trade

Alex Smith’s contract is destined to be a bad one

After acquiring Alex Smith, the Redskins signed him to a four-year, $94 million contract extension with $71 million guaranteed.

Wow. That’s a lot of money. If you were going to shell out that kind of money, wouldn’t you have given it to Kirk Cousins this offseason? Or last offseason? Or the offseason before that?

Instead, Washington has given it to Smith, a quarterback who will be 34 years old in May.

That four-year extension is on top of the final year Smith had remaining on his contract. Therefore, the Redskins are on the hook for Smith for five more seasons.

All of the details of the contract haven’t been released and they likely won’t be until the trade is officially announced in mid-March. But what we do know is that the average annual salary of the deal is $23.5 million and that Smith will be 38 years old during the final year of the contract.

One of the things that allow Smith to make plays is his legs and his ability to extend plays outside the pocket and find receivers downfield. At 38, those legs might not work quite like they used to. His arm strength may deteriorate as well.

By 2022, Smith will be an old quarterback who can’t make plays like he used to but will be crippling the salary cap like never before.