The Washington Redskins began the offseason back in February with a major splash move of acquiring Pro Bowl quarterback Alex Smith from the Kansas City Chiefs. This has immediately created a huge shift under center for the organization that has presumably signaled the end of Kirk Cousins' tenure in Washington.

However, there had yet to be any clear recognition publicly of that change of direction from the franchise moving away from Cousins being the franchise quarterback. According to Kimberly A. Martin of The Washington Post, head coach Jay Gruden has finally voiced that notion that the has decided to move forward without the 29-year-old.

“We’ve played this tag game for a couple years now it seems like, and I think it’s time to get some stability at the most important position in sports, and that’s quarterback,” Gruden said. “It’s very important for us to move forward and let Kirk move on.”

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This had long been viewed as being the presumed route following the trade for Smith several weeks ago.  At the same time, there also hadn't been any true dialogue about Cousins' future with the Redskins aside from potentially using the franchise tag in order to gain some additional assets with his departure.

These comments also further signal that the team will not go that route by instead allowing Cousins to finally test the free-agent market for the first time in his career. He is expected to garner plenty of attention across the league from several teams such as the Minnesota Vikings, Denver Broncos, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, and Arizona Cardinals.

Meanwhile, the Redskins will now commit to building the offense around Smith next season as he has proven to be one of the league's better quarterbacks. This could see the front office use their financial flexibility of $48.5 million to acquire additional talent at the skilled positions to build a playoff contender in 2018.