There promises to be a ton of drama surrounding Kirk Cousins and the Washington Redskins before that entire contract situation plays out.
Coming off a 2016 campaign that saw him throw for nearly 5,000 yards with 29 total touchdowns and 12 interceptions, Cousins continues to prove himself to be one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL.
He’s also slated to become a free agent for the second consecutive offseason. With this comes a bit of uncertainty regarding Cousins’ future in the nation’s capital. Will Washington franchise him? Would Cousins sign the tender? Is a trade possible here? So many questions, so little time.
What we do know is that there’s going to be as much as a quarter of the NFL looking for starting quarterbacks when the new league year starts next month. Of these eight teams, there’s a handful that seem to make the most sense for Cousins. Here’s a look at them.
Washington Redskins
This remains the likeliest scenario. Washington will almost certainly place the franchise tag on Cousins should the two sides not come to terms on a long-term contract between now and March. And while Cousins is expected to sign the tender, there’s a scenario in play here that suggests he could be traded.
That’s something we have not seen around the NFL in some time now. Teams don’t usually hand out franchise tags only to trade a player immediately after. Short of that happening, Cousins will not find himself on the open market as a free agent. Simply put, Washington can’t afford to lose him for nothing in return.
All this seems to be a clear indication that Cousins will return to the Redskins in 2017. Whether it’s as the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL or on a one-year deal remains to be seen.
San Francisco 49ers
The connection is real here. New 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan served as the Redskins’ offensive coordinator in Cousins’ first two seasons in the NFL. The two built up a strong relationship, as mentioned by Cousins when he just recently praised the 49ers’ new brass, Shanahan and general manager John Lynch included.
“Oh, I’ve always been a big fan of Kyle’s (Shanahan). He’s been around this league for a long time. I’ve always spoken highly of him from the day I was picked,” Cousins said earlier in February. “I loved his system right away and saw it successfully run with Robert Griffin III, I’ve now seen it successfully run with Matt Ryan.”
That’s some strong praise for a player that’s not even in this team. It also suggests that Cousins could very well be interested in joining Shanahan in San Francisco.
The 49ers also have both the need and an ability to acquire someone of Cousins’ ilk. With Colin Kaepernick expected to opt out of his contract, San Francisco doesn’t boast a single quarterback that will be under contract when March comes calling. It will also possess north of $100 million in cap room once Kap does opt out.
While San Francisco likely won’t give up two first-round picks by signing Cousins after he receives the franchise tag, there’s a possibility that the 49ers and Redskins could work out a trade. San Francisco currently holds the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Chicago Bears
Likely to release Jay Cutler prior to March, Chicago will surely be in the market for a new quarterback. That much is already known. It’s a fact the team hasn’t hidden since a disastrous three-win 2016 season.
Much like San Francisco, Chicago has the ability to acquire Cousins. It boasts the third overall pick in the upcoming draft and will have nearly $70 million in cap room when Cutler is indeed released.
The interesting dynamic here is that Chicago might miss out on the top quarterback in an otherwise weak draft class at that position. Both Cleveland and San Francisco — picking one and two respectively — are in need of a quarterback.
There’s also a scenario in play that one or both of the teams could move down with another squad that’s targeting a quarterback. It’s something we saw last year when both Tennessee and Cleveland moved out of the top spots in the draft.
It will surely be interesting to see this whole thing play out for the Bears. The options seem to be pretty solid for Chicago here with Tony Romo, Tyrod Taylor, Jimmy Garoppolo and Colin Kaepernick all being potential options. This seems to indicate that the Bears don’t need to exhaust a huge bounty to pick Cousins up. In reality, they will be working from advantageous position.
New York Jets
Now that Ryan Fitzpatrick is officially a free agent, the Jets will surely be looking into the veteran market for a replacement. That’s only magnified with Geno Smith also expected not to return to Jersey.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing considering the Jets’ quarterback situation was absolutely atrocious in 2016. All said, the trio that actually took snaps under center threw 16 touchdowns compared to 25 interceptions. It was by far the worst quarterback situation in the NFL. That’s an amazing “accomplishment” considering the Cleveland Browns are still an NFL team (kinda).
With Christian Hackenberg on the roster, the Jets might look for more of a stop-gap option. That could come in the form of either Jay Cutler or Tony Romo. But it’s important to note that Hackenberg inspired so much confidence in the Jets’ front office that he didn’t take a snap under center with the rest of the team’s quarterbacks putting up horrendous performances. Think about that for a second.
Cousins to the Jets makes sense for a few different reasons. First off, this is a squad that won 10 games two seasons ago. It did so with Fitzpatrick playing tremendous football. There’s still a ton of talent here. Talent that Cousins himself could help tap.
Secondly, New York still boasts a solid receiver group in Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker. While both are a little long in the tooth and Marshall isn’t a guarantee to return, that’s a decent starting-off point for Cousins.
Finally, New York boasts the sixth overall pick in the upcoming draft and could potentially send someone like Sheldon Richardson to the Skins in a deal.
The only real sticking point is that the Jets are currently nearly $7 million over the cap. They are going to have to restructure multiple contracts and potentially release a few players to make this work. That list includes Marshall, Darrelle Revis, Nick Mangold and David Harris.
Buffalo Bills
Here’s a true wild card in every sense of the term. Despite putting up two consecutive stellar seasons in Western New York, it looks like Tyrod Taylor will not be returning to the Bills. They are not prepared to pay him the huge bonus he’s set to receive next month. And for his part, Taylor doesn’t seem interested in taking a pay cut.
With EJ Manuel slated to become a free agent, this will leave 2016 mid-round pick Cardale Jones as the only quarterback on the Bills’ roster. And with the 10th pick in the upcoming draft, it’s unlikely Buffalo will be able to add one of the top-tier quarterbacks.
Sure Buffalo has displayed some interest in Tony Romo, but that doesn’t seem to be a realistic scenario. It’s also highly unlikely that the Patriots would trade Jimmy Garoppolo within the division. This limits what the Bills might be able to do after they dropped the ball on the entire Taylor situation.
As it stands, Buffalo might be an attractive destination for Cousins. It boasts a top-end running back in LeSean McCoy and one of the best young receivers in the game, Sammy Watkins. That would be an ideal scenario for Washington’s current starting quarterback.