Andrew Buller-Russ
The San Francisco 49ers have had six different players start at QB since 2017, but if Kyle Shanahan got his way, Kirk Cousins would be in the Bay Area instead of preparing for his sixth season with the Minnesota Vikings.
It’s no secret how much Shanahan has coveted Cousins in the past, thanks to spending two seasons as his offensive coordinator with the Washington Commanders from 2012-13. But once Shanahan finally got his first chance at becoming an NFL head coach with the 49ers in 2017, one of his first moves was trying to trade for Cousins.
The offer was San Francisco sending the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft to Washington for a then-29-year-old Cousins, who was headed into the second year of being franchise-tagged. But as Mike Shanahan tells it, Washington didn’t have any interest.
“He knew Kirk knew his system, and he knew the type of guy Kirk was. But (Washington) wouldn’t even return the phone call.”
Mike Shanahan on Kyle Shanahan’s San Francisco 49ers trying to trade for Kirk Cousins in 2017
Cousins left Washington as a free agent the very next season, signing a three-year, full-guaranteed $84 million contract with the Minnesota Vikings, making him the highest-paid player in NFL history at the time.
Meanwhile, the 49ers pivoted to trading down to the third overall pick, selecting defensive lineman Solomon Thomas. Then, in Week 9, the 49ers struck a trade for Jimmy Garoppolo, sending the 43rd overall pick to the New England Patriots in exchange, and the rest is history.
The 49ers have had Garoppolo start 57 games since 2017, helping them go 38-17 in the process. Cousins has started 96 games with a win-loss record of 53-42-1.
Yet the 49ers didn’t quit trying to find a better solution that would eventually push Garoppolo out of town, most notably by trading three first-round picks for the right to draft Trey Lance No. 3 overall in 2021. While Lance didn’t work out in San Francisco, Shanahan eventually found a potential long-term starter with Brock Purdy, the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Purdy led the 49ers to a 5-0 record, plus winning two more in the playoffs. With Purdy under contract for just over $1 million per season through 2025, the 49ers aren’t too upset with how the cards played out.
Related: See where Kirk Cousins ranks in Sportsnaut’s NFL QB rankings
