Despite putting up two consecutive excellent seasons, there’s no guarantee that Kirk Cousins will be back with the Washington Redskins next season. Cousins is set to become a free agent and is holding out for a long-term deal.
While Washington will likely place the dreaded franchise tag on Cousins, that’s only a short-term fix. Cousins had previously indicated that he might not sign the tender before ultimately concluding he would likely play under the tag should it come to that.
Either way, there’s also a scenario in play here that could see Cousins traded from the Redskins after they place the tag on him.
Among his likeliest suitors will likely be the San Francisco 49ers, who are on the verge of naming Cousins’ former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan their new head coach. That eventuality will come the day after Shanahan’s Atlanta Falcons play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI on Sunday.
As reports continue to surface that the 49ers might be interested in Cousins’ services, the quarterback himself has some pretty high praise for the organization. In fact, he singled out both Shanahan and new 49ers general manager John Lynch specifically.
Kirk Cousins is daring the Redskins to let him hit the open market pic.twitter.com/svViFjNRq2
— Kevin Jones (@Mr_KevinJones) February 2, 2017
It’s no surprise that Cousins would have good things to say about Shanahan. After all, the current Falcons offensive coordinator was on the Redskins when they selected the quarterback out of Michigan State back in 2012. He, however, has no real ties to Lynch. That makes it interesting that Cousins would go out of his way to praise the 49ers’ new general manager.
Then again, it’s all about leverage here. If the Redskins believe San Francisco is a threat to sign Cousins, even after he’s franchised, that bodes well for the quarterback’s ability to get a huge pay day.
As it relates to the 49ers, there’s no reason to believe the team wouldn’t be interested in Cousins. It boasts the second overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft and will have nearly $100 million to spend in free agency. That’s a whole lot of capital available to the team. Not to mention, Cousins would be a perfect fit in Shanahan’s offense.