1. Kirk Cousins teams up with Kyle Shanahan
It’s kind of crazy that, in this era when so many teams are without an elite quarterback, the Washington Redskins aren’t willing to pay Kirk Cousins top dollar to stay. A recent report indicates Washington isn’t eager to keep Cousins around and that he might end up in San Francisco with his old Redskins offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan (more on that here).
Washington would be absolutely crazy to not at least hit Cousins with the franchise tag for the second year in a row. Letting him hit free agency would be an epic blunder that would make its way on any list of worst personnel blunders in NFL history.
Assuming that doesn’t happen, the only way Cousins leaves Washington is via trade, but that’s not exactly out of the question. General manager John Lynch recently said the 49ers “absolutely” need to upgrade their quarterback situation. Colin Kaepernick could be on his way out the door, despite having a positive meeting with Lynch and Co. last week.
A feasible trade scenario could see the 49ers trade their No. 2 overall pick, their 2018 first-round pick and/or this year’s second-round pick to Washington in exchange for Cousins.
Washington could then either draft a young quarterback this year or next while moving on from a quarterback that apparently isn’t someone it views as a long-term solution. We’re not sure it would be a win-win, but the 49ers would sure be happy to walk away from this year’s draft with a proven gunslinger whose accuracy is his best asset.