Tuesday night the NFL was rocked with the bombshell news that the Kansas City Chiefs are sending quarterback Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins.

It’s a move that will have rippling effects around the NFL, including right here in Denver. The Broncos are desperate for a long-term answer at quarterback, and this trade drastically changes the landscape of the quarterback market.

Here’s how it affects Denver…

The Patrick Mahomes era has officially started

Filed under ‘to be determinated’ if this truly is a good or bad thing for the Broncos, the exciting young rookie Patrick Mahomes takes the reins for the Chiefs. The young arm out of Texas Tech certainly showed flashes of great ability, but he also will deal with growing pains as he learns to be an NFL quarterback. That could mean down a year or two.

The game plan may have changed slightly for Denver, as a result. The Chiefs’ hold on the AFC West (winners of the last two division titles) seems less secure with Mahomes at the helm.

One less team in the race for Kirk Cousins

The reality that Kirk Cousins could return to the Redskins under the franchise tag or on a long-term deal was very much in play, but that has been extinguished.

A front office that never seemed to get along with Cousins, the Redskins are now officially out of the race for Captain Kirk and will move forward with Smith, who is expected to sign a four-year, $71-million extension with the Redskins.

This bodes well for the many fans that want to see Cousins in a Broncos uniform next year, as there is one less team in the bidding for Cousins.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter expects Denver to be one of the four primary suitors.

So, while one less team is involved, there could be as many as six — if not more — when it comes to the services of Cousins, including; Denver, Buffalo, both New York teams, Jacksonville, Cleveland and more. The Broncos will have competition.

Cousins’ price tag should drop, but not by much

Cousins had a lot of leverage in Washington. Keyword ‘had.’ Much of that leverage included the Redskins (who drafted Cousins and would have needed to pay $34 million on a franchise tag in 2018 if they couldn’t strike a long-term deal) and the San Francisco 49ers (who ultimately didn’t want to get in the Cousins bidding war and snagged Jimmy Garoppolo midseason last year from New England for a 2018 second-round pick).

With Garoppolo locking down the job in San Francisco and the Redskins officially out of the race, Cousins’ value is somewhat diminished. While he will still demand a major price tag, it won’t be the outrageous amount that was expected a couple months ago.

This also benefits Denver, who isn’t cash-strapped by any means, but certainly doesn’t have the money the Browns, Jets or Vikings have — at least for now. All three are in the top six of total estimated cap space available for 2018. Denver currently ranks 17th, $9 million dollars over the league average. But Denver has some wiggle room. They have several veteran players — Demaryius Thomas and C.J. Anderson to name a few — whose deals could be scrapped to help make room for Cousins’ salary.

Call him Alex $mith, because his new extension is a big deal

After the trade was initially announced, Ian Rapoport reported that the Redskins and Smith came to terms on a four-year extension that will give Smith $71 million dollars in guarantees.

This is a big deal for Denver. Guarantees will likely need to exceed that and set the new floor for quarterbacks. If Denver wants Cousins, it’s still going to cost a pretty penny when it comes to guarantees.