The entire drama surrounding quarterback Kirk Cousins and his Washington Redskins has died down a bit. Just when it looked like Cousins might be traded, the Pro Bowler signed his franchise tag tender. As of now, it sure looks like the Skins are intent on keeping him through the 2017 season.
With that said, there’s still a lot of unfinished business here. Cousins is once again slated to become a free agent following the 2017 season, at which point Washington can place the franchise tag on him at a cost of $30-plus million.
Facing a mid July deadline for an extension, it looks like there’s really nothing happening on that front between Cousins and the Redskins.
“We talked last year, we didn’t get it done long-term,” Redskins president Bruce Allen said, via MMQB. “We have him (Cousins) signed for this year, and an option for next year. But our goal is to get a long-term deal.”
Notice how Allen mentions that they talked last year? It’s not a secret that Cousins is unhappy about his current situation in the nation’s capital. In fact, reports came out earlier in March that he would not negotiate a long-term deal with the Skins as long as Allen remained on as their president.
This came amid multiple suggestions that Cousins wants to play for his former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, now the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers (more on that here).
If there has been no dialogue between the two sides, that really limits the possibility that a long-term agreement can come to fruition prior to this summer’s deadline. If so, that would lead to Cousins playing out yet another contract year. It really isn’t a sustainable situation for either side.
As it relates to whether Washington views Cousins as a long-term option, Allen answered in the affirmative.
“Well, since we’ve offered him a contract around that length (five or six years), I’d say yes we do,” Allen said. “He has gotten better the last three years, and we see him getting better in the future, and that’s why we do want to sign him long-term. We like his role as our quarterback and our leader, we just have to work that out.”
The length of the contract isn’t what Cousins views to be a sticking point. Instead, it appears that there was a difference of millions annually between what Washington offered and what Cousins asked for.
It will surely be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming months. Of course, there’s also a scenario in play here that Cousins will in fact be dealt prior to next month’s draft. With no dialogue taking place between the two sides, maybe that possibility is more real than we think.