Aggression wins in the NFL.

For decades, that rule primarily held to the football field, but lately, that rule applies to the front office, too.

Look at the NFL’s best franchises and how they attack success.

The Patriots make trades and in-season moves that others find questionable. The Rams seemingly push all in each offseason. The Bears made a huge trade for Khalil Mack last year, and it paid big dividends. Howie Roseman runs the Eagles with a healthy balance of daring and cunning.

Simply put, the NFL has become a league where the path to the playoffs no longer comes strictly from conservative roster building.

For the Redskins, that means the team can’t be hesitant in making a major quarterback move this offseason just because previous quarterback decisions backfired.

Trading for Josh Rosen, whether it happens or not, should be judged solely on the merits of his talent versus the cost to acquire him. Not recent history.

The trade for Alex Smith cannot be a factor in the decision-making to go after Josh Rosen.

The trade for Robert Griffin III cannot be a factor in the decision-making to go after Josh Rosen.

The trade for Donovan McNabb cannot be a factor in the decision-making to go after Josh Rosen.

Why?

Rosen is a different player, the roster situation is completely different and the trade compensation will look different, too.

It would be overly simplistic to ignore any lessons from the previous trades, though.

The team gave up too much for Griffin, even if it did look like a great move in the fall of 2012.

The team did not have to give Alex Smith a lucrative contract extension last year, even if he looked like a long-term answer at QB for the Redskins in the fall of 2018.

As for the McNabb trade, that one was just bad. The lesson? Don’t make bad trades.

Already once this offseason, Bruce Allen and the Redskins brass traded for a QB. The team gave up minimal draft compensation for Denver’s Case Keenum and didn’t have to pay him much either.

It was low risk and could bring a decent reward.

It was a smart move.

Trading for Rosen will carry more risk, but without a first-round pick included in the trade, the risk is reasonable.

The Redskins also need a long-term prospect at QB, and Rosen is probably the best possible answer. He has immense talent.

Ask around a few locker rooms, and football players will say that they can’t play the game scared because that’s how injuries happen.

Redskins fans might need to adopt that motto.

Through injuries and wild circumstances, none of the most recent high-profile QB trades have worked in the long-term for Washington.

That doesn’t mean the Redskins should stop trying.

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