Darrell Green Fan

Can anyone help with the cap hit if Alex retires or is released? I think the best scenario is to have Alex and Kyle back, then find a QB early in the draft. I'm not getting fooled by a half at garbage time in a prevent defense with regard to Heineke. I agree we would be in this same position or possible a better one had Kyle Allen not been hurt. Dwayne cost the Seattle game, Allen could have won that.

Is the goal to be not bad/pretty good or is the goal to be a contender for many years? I am a notable Kirk guy but after his stop in Minnesota it's perfectly clear that a QB like Kirk Cousins or Alex Smith will limit your ability to actually challenge for deep playoff runs year after year. I'll ask again. For those in your camp what did Kyle show this year that would not make you believe he can be at the level you project for Mac? I mean he played pretty well in his time here.

Gotcha. My point was obviously a good QB doesn't just "help" as @heyholetsgogrant(great username by the way) stated, it's vital for lasting success.

We all know how you feel but that wasn't the point. I was responding to the poster who said " Yes, QB play helps, but when was the last time those teams before Brady, Rogers, Smith, and Wilson sucked in the last 30 years?" The answer was a number of plenty of times, look at the Hawks in the 90's. QB play does not just "help" it is very very important.

What do those 4 teams have in common? They either have had a very good QB for as long as they were relevant or in the case of KC they had a coach who is the best at getting the most out of his QB. Prior to Russell Wilson's arrival Seattle was (counting backwards from the year before he arrived) 7-9, 7-9, 5-11, 4-12. Yes they made a SB under Holmgren (in a year when their QB made the Pro Bowl) but nobody would consider those Hawks teams relevant before Russell Wilson arrived, they had one winning season for the entire decade of the 90's.

Sorry brother, I missed 2 letters as you described Winston. But I still disagree on Fitzmagic. i don't see any advantage in signing a QB who has broken hearts in so many cities around the league. You just can't count on him not to self destruct at any point in time. The book on Mitchel Tribisky is pretty clear by now. This isn't like Josh Allen who showed big improvement in his 2nd year and in year 3 he is now very good. Mitch is completing his 4th season, a season where he was so bad he was replaced by Nick Foles for a time. I'm not sure how you can say he got a bad rap. He was handed the keys to a team with a really good defense, he has had ample opportunities, and he is wasting that really good defense. There's little reason to believe that will change in Washington.

While I agree with most of this post I can't believe you would use Winston and Fitzpatrick as examples of being steady eddies. These are literally 2 of the most inconsistent QBs we've seen in years. One game they throw for 350 yards and 4 TD, the next week it's 4 picks. There's a reason Fitz has bounced around so much, you can't count on the guy because you don't know which Fitz will show up. The book on Winston is almost complete as well, same story.

Just such a bizarre take as I can't tell you how many people I've heard say how Tribinski is wasting a good defense and time is running out on getting a QB who won't hold them back.

Yeah I'm not going by a four game sample size, I prefer to look at the bigger picture and he has been flat out bad for years now. Even during this 4 game stretch I saw him throw a Dwayne like pick into massive traffic in the end zone on Sunday

Oh I think he'll be back. He's familiar with the system and Washington probably offers him the best opportunity to compete for starting position. I heard yesterday if they cut Alex Smith that combined with Dwayne's dead cap money was something like 14 or 15 million in dead cap space. That's a lot for players who weren't on the team, hard to believe they could put that with the cost of a free agent vet quarterback.

The Lions will take a $20 million cap hit if they trade Mathew Stafford. I can't imagine they would ever do that.

Alex Smith is a huge injury risk, if he is even on the team next year it will probably be his last. To the previous poster's point we need to get our new long term QB now because we have no idea what QBs will be available next offseason.

That's like opening a can of creamed corn because you know what you are going to get. We already know Tyrod Taylor will never be the long term answer, this makes zero sense.

I can't believe posters are suggesting failed retreads such as Cam Newton or Tyrod Tayler. There is a reason so many teams moved on from Taylor, he will never the the long term answer. If he is available my choice is Mathew Stafford and it's not even close. He is one of the most underrated QBs in the league, at 32 he has plenty left in the tank unlike Ryan who does resemble Kirk in big moments, he never seems to be able to pull out wins. He always seems to come up short in all the close games the Falcons have lost the last few years and there have been a lot of close losses.

Yeah this news is not like the other news, for the first time we have a direct link to Snyder misconduct. The Jerry Richardson comparison is much more accurate than Robert Kraft, similar situation. And let's not forget Dan has few friends around the league to protect him. For the first time I actually believe this may be the end, but I'm still only 50/50. As for Kyle Smith while I'm sure a GM's time is taken up with administrative stuff 80% of the time. But they are evaluated by the talent they acquire and the last 3 years the drafts have been excellent, this FA class was very good as well. I want to do whatever it takes to retain him but it does seem as if Kyle and RR are not connecting for whatever reason.

Everyone wants to use Tannehill without recognizing that he has Derrick Henry and the other 31 starting quarterbacks do not. Including us.

Yeah I'm with you. Mariotta had plenty of opportunity to show who he is and who is is a QB who is not good enough to be a starter, especially on a team looking for that guy to push them into contention. Regardless of what they do it's obvious that they are going to make a move at the most important position in football, possibly in all sports. It will be interesting to see what ends up happening.

For your reasons and mine I just don't see why the Lions would trade Mathew Stafford.

I was thinking the same thing from the Lions perspective. Can they really sell it to their fans that they are parting with one of the few assets they have for the 19th pick in the draft? That's why I still think the price will be higher than that with teams like New Orleans, Chicago and several other teams in the mix to drive the bidding up. I would do Dak for sure based on age. But I don't see their cap hit as being similar as Stafford is still under contract, even a new deal here wouldn't result in that much of a hit when compared to Dak who is about to blow the doors off with his long term deal.

I don't see how 13 points is going to beat Russell Wilson and DK Metcalf. But I do kinda think there's a good chance Dwayne plays well, at least in stretches. Sports kind of works that way, where the backup comes in and gets hot. Of course with Dwayne it would not be sustainable but I can certainly see it for 3 hours on Sunday, especially against that defense.

Hard to say but let's not forget the injuries that riddled that 2018 team. We are after all discussing our Washington Redskins and most everyone knows how that would eventually turned out. They were never as good as that 6-3 record, it would have all evened out in the end. Let's move on OK?

No they were horrible. You can't win in this league with Mark Sanchez or Josh Johnson. But I'm tired of arguing Alex Smith. What he has accomplished is simply amazing, he is without a doubt the Comeback POY. I'm very upset that he is out on Sunday and our QBs will be Dwanye Haskins and something called Taylor Heinicke. We have a real shot to win the division and Alex Smith gives us the best chance. Can you please do me a favor and stop quoting me? I have already explained I am no longer interested in debating this topic with you.

No but they were playing very well at the time. He was not a factor in the wins, he just didn't turn them into losses. There's a difference.

But what you are missing is teams in the playoffs need a QB who can make plays, not simply play it safe and not make mistakes. There is a reason all of those good teams failed to go far, went in another direction and reached higher levels immediately. But all of this is off point. The point I have been making remains using Alex Smith's won/loss figures on those teams without acknowledging that he had great teams around him is nuts.

So Alex is out? Well that sucks. I liked their chances with him, with Dwayne our chances just dropped significantly.