Bruce Allen on Redskins’ acquiring Alex Smith: ‘He was at the top of the list’

The Washington Redskins entered the 2018 NFL Draft the way all teams do: looking to add players who will make them better.

The difference was, the Redskins took their first major step in that direction on March 14, when they made a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs to acquire veteran quarterback Alex Smith.

‘We went through the evaluations very quickly after our season’

As far as the Redskins were concerned, this was more than simply replacing Kirk Cousins, who would depart via free agency. This was a chance for an upgrade.

“We went through the evaluations very quickly after our season,” Redskins president Bruce Allen told Jim Miller and Pat Kirwan on Movin’ The Chains.

‘The coaches stayed and the scout’s stayed and they worked day and night and came up with a hit list’

The team realized there was no time to waste to address key areas, especially the most important position on the team.

“Usually, people try and get away after your last game,” Allen said. “But the coaches stayed and the scout’s stayed and they worked day and night and came up with a hit list of players that we wanted to get. And Alex was at the top of the list and, fortunately, we were able to acquire him.”