There’s a lot of moving parts on the Kirk Cousins’ front. The Washington Redskins placed the exclusive franchise tender on their Pro Bowl quarterback Tuesday, meaning that no other team can negotiate with signal caller once free agency begins.
Should Cousins in fact sign the tender, he will be guaranteed roughly $24 million for the 2017 season.
The interesting dynamic here is that Cousins has been the subject of trade rumors, primarily linking him to his former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers.
As to where the Redskins had previously shot down reports that Cousins might be traded, the 49ers themselves seem to be gearing up for trade talks for the Pro Bowler.
Now comes this report from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio suggesting that the Redskins are in fact open to trading Cousins. But it comes with one major caveat.
“One source with knowledge of the dynamics suggested that Washington will need to be “blown away,” and that team president Bruce Allen will specifically be thinking of what the team gave up five years ago to get quarterback Robert Griffin III,” Florio reported on Tuesday.
Well, that’s not going to happen.
If you remember correctly, Washington traded three first-round picks and a second-round pick with the then St. Louis Rams to acquire the rights to select Robert Griffin III second overall back in 2012. Boasting the second overall pick, it’s highly unlikely San Francisco would come remotely close to matching this asking price.
More likely than not, Washington is putting these conflicting reports out there to gauge San Francisco’s interest through the media. It’s a ploy teams have been using continually over the years. Washington is no different here.
If the 49ers don’t back away from their reported interest, there’s still a possibility here that a trade can be worked out between the two sides. Those discussions will likely begin at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis this week.