How will the Alex Smith trade affect the Vikings’ offseason plans?

After the quarterback was traded to the Washington Redskins on Tuesday, what impact was made on the Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback plans for the 2018 offseason?

To say the Alex Smith trade came out of nowhere on Tuesday night would be a very large understatement. As a good portion of the country was going about their normal pre-bedtime routines, news broke that the Kansas City Chiefs had reportedly agreed to trade Smith to the Washington Redskins in exchange for a third-round draft pick and cornerback Kendall Fuller.

Not only did the Redskins give up a bunch to acquire the quarterback, but it was also reported that the team has agreed to sign Smith to a four-year, $94 million contract extension with $71 million of it guaranteed.

Before he was traded to Washington, the veteran quarterback was looked at as a possible candidate to be the Minnesota Vikings starter next season. But with Tuesday’s deal, the chance of that happening now is pretty much in the negative percentile.

Acquiring Smith also means that the Redskins have moved on from quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is a free-agent this year and will now end up with a new team for 2018.

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Could that new team possibly be the Vikings? Anything is possible, but Minnesota dishing out big time money to a free-agent quarterback does not seem like something that the current regime would do.

Instead of signing Cousins to a $130 million contract, the Vikings would rather spend that money on depth and extensions for some of their top young players. Plus, Minnesota may need a little more money now if they intend to re-sign quarterback Case Keenum this offseason.

The massive extension that Smith and the Redskins have reportedly agreed to will certainly have an impact on how much money Keenum’s agent will be looking for during free agency. Spotrac currently has the two quarterbacks at a comparable market value (around $21 million per year), so the extension will likely boost that amount by a few more million.

Next: Vikings top 5 priorities for the 2018 offseason

Would the expected increase in asking price deter the Vikings in trying to re-sign Keenum this offseason? It just may have, but the quarterback is going to now land an even nicer contract in 2018 no matter if it’s with Minnesota or not.

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