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Ten NFL players who could be traded this offseason

Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo?
Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

5. Kirk Cousins, quarterback, Washington Redskins

Will he be franchised or won’t he? That’s the $20 million question Washington will be answering here in the not-so-distant future. Initial indications were that Cousins might hold out if he were given the dreaded tag a second consecutive season. Now, it looks like he’s accepted it. With this, the Redskins almost certainly will place the tag on Cousins before March.

In no way does this mean Cousins is a guarantee to return to Washington. As long as the team places the non-exclusive tag on its Pro Bowl quarterback, another squad could come in and pony up two first-round picks for Cousins. While that seems highly unlikely, it has already been bandied about in San Francisco (more on that here).

There’s also  another scenario in play here. Cousins could ink the franchise tender with the knowledge that he would then be traded. In return, the Redskins would get something less than two first rounders as a bounty in a potential deal. With obvious connections to new 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, this might not be an unrealistic possibility.

Either way, Cousins will be a wanted man once the new league years starts next month. He’s coming off a 2016 campaign that saw him put up nearly 5,000 passing yards with 29 total touchdowns and 12 interceptions. It was Cousins second consecutive stellar performance for the Redskins.

Surely it looks like Cousins is a franchise quarterback. Despite this, there seems to be an indication from the brass in D.C. that it doesn’t want to dole out a long-term contract to the signal caller. Should things spiral out of control here, a trade becomes a strong possibility.

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