Kirk Cousins and the Washington Redskins are reportedly going nowhere fast as it pertains to a long-term contract before the July 17 deadline.
According to Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports, there is “no movement” on a new deal. He wrote that the “deal isn’t close. Unless someone budges between now and Monday, it’s not happening.”
This isn’t terribly shocking, despite the fact that Washington has publicly beat the drum lately that it would love to have Cousins long term.
There are a couple of reasons this deal won’t happen, from this scribe’s perspective.
First off, Cousins appears to be much more interested in joining Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers next year, which has been reported as a distinct possibility since well before the 2017 NFL Draft.
Secondly, it’s been reported that money isn’t the big issue for Cousins in Washington. Something deeper is going on, and it’s not pretty.
Washington has a busted culture. It’s a team that has seen some of its best players leave recently, and its front office is a mess. Owner Dan Snyder doesn’t seem to be able to keep his hands out of football operations, and his right-hand man Bruce Allen is seen by many as a dark figure.
With all that in mind, we fully expect Cousins to play out the season on his franchise tag, which is set to pay him around $24 million. It’s fully guaranteed, so he’s not losing out by taking this route. Then he’ll be a free agent next offseason, and anything’s possible.