The saga of one Kirk Cousins is seemingly never ending. We’ve read reports suggesting that Cousins doesn’t want to play for the Washington Redskins long term. This has come at the same time that some within the Redskins’ brass apparently don’t view him as a long-term solution.
All the while, it looks like Washington will indeed place the franchise tag on their Pro Bowl quarterback. By no means is this a clear indication that Cousins will return to D.C. After all, his former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers are lurking.
Now comes two different pieces of information.
Appearing on the Mighty 1090 in San Diego, NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah indicated that it’s greater than a 50 percent chance that Cousins will not be back with the Redskins in 2017. He also suggested that a trade to the 49ers wouldn’t be too shocking.
None of this would necessarily be a huge surprise. Cousins himself has openly praised the 49ers’ new brass, his former offensive coordinator included (more on that here).
San Francisco will be in the market for a starting quarterback after Colin Kaepernick opts out of his contract. And the team definitely has capital to exhaust here. San Francisco boasts the second overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft and will likely have north of $100 million to spend in free agency.
If Cousins were to move on from Washington, the likeliest scenario would be for him to sign the franchise tag. At that point, the 49ers and Redskins can work out a trade for the Pro Bowler.
Cousins, 28, is coming off a 2016 campaign that saw him complete 67 percent of his passes for nearly 5,000 yards with 29 total touchdowns and 12 interceptions.