Washington Redskins Hire A.J. Smith as a Consultant

It's all quiet on the midwestern front for the San Diego Chargers and their new leadership at General Manager and Head Coach, but their former GM has found a way to get his name into the news cycle by accepting a job with the Washington Redskins as a front office adviser and consultant.

A few notes, if I could...

• If he's already at the NFL Combine with Redskins' coach Mike Shanahan, wouldn't that lead you to believe that this deal was agreed upon earlier than yesterday? Why wait until the combine to announce it? Is it because he/they wanted the biggest stage, or because they were hoping the story would get buried?
• In typical A.J. fashion, news about him taking a not-very-glamorous position comes with a truck load of rumors about all of the glamorous jobs that were being offered to him that he turned down. Sure, it's just a front office advisory role with the Redskins, but the Patriots totally wanted to hire him and he was almost the Jaguars GM even though they never interviewed him.
• Were the Redskins really struggling with their current front office? Bruce Allen has done a fantastic job of signing and drafting players (no, really) since taking over as the Redskins' General Manager in 2010. Washington's 2012 draft class was a level of excellent that A.J. Smith hasn't seen in years. How does he help them in any way?

Those things being said, I am glad that Smith ended up with a position in a different conference and on the opposite coast from the San Diego Chargers. As far as I'm concerned, the less I hear of him the better. This also seems to be the stance of Kevin Acee, who is noticeably touchy on the subject.