We have conflicting reports on the Redskins and their plans for pending free agent Kirk Cousins. Earlier today, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reported that the Redskins are willing to use the franchise tag on Cousins for the second consecutive year, if necessary. However, Albert Breer of The MMQB is hearing the opposite.
The Redskins still want to lock Cousins up, but Breer’s understanding is that they will only go so far to keep him. He also cautions that the team’s stance could change in the coming months.
Unless Cousins falls apart in the second half of the season, I would expect the Redskins to do whatever it takes to keep him under contract. Since being handed the job in 2015, Cousins has a 68.7% completion percentage, 7,257 yards, and 46 touchdowns against 18 interceptions. The Redskins might not want to pay him nearly $25MM/year on a new deal, but they also know that they won’t be able to replicate that production any other way.
Here’s more from Breer:
- Eagles lineman Lane Johnson is fighting his 10-game suspension and Breer has the specifics on his argument. For starters, the performance-enhancing substance policy calls for a panel of 3-5 arbitrators, and Johnson’s reps note that there were only two assigned to his case. One of those arbitrators, James Carter, handled the Ray Rice investigation for the NFL and his cozy relationship with the league could be a conflict of interest, one that was not disclosed to Johnson. Johnson is also going after the NFLPA, in part because he says their Aegis Shield app for checking supplements did not flag what he was taking.
- Executives around the NFL are high on Ohio State’s Marshon Lattimore. The cornerback appears to have better grades than former Buckeye Eli Apple did last season and that should put him in the first round. “He’s smooth—a good athlete with good ball skills,” said one AFC executive. “There’s not a lot bad to him. He’s a first-rounder.” Still, Lattimore will have to silence some concerns about his speed. “He’s big, strong, athletic, good ball skills,” one scout assigned to the Buckeyes said. “But you still feel like you need to see more, because he only has 11 career starts and they rotate three guys. You want to see his speed. I don’t know if he’ll run 4.4, and he hasn’t been tested like he will this weekend.”
- Meanwhile, North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky could be in the mix for the No. 1 overall pick. The redshirt junior could choose to stay in school, but it would be hard for him to turn down such a golden opportunity. Two NFC execs pegged Trubisky as a Top 10 pick, praising his accuracy, vision, and overall arm talent. The Tar Heel’s biggest liability could be his perceived leadership ability. While there are no character concerns, Trubisky is not as outspoken and outgoing as some evaluators would like. The Browns are reportedly focusing on Trubisky.
Good for Lane. I hope he wins and exposes these dunces in the NFL and NFLPA
Agreed. There needs to be accountability to the supplement industry. If you’re picking something up at a gnc at the mall and the players association says the supplement is ok, the burden shouldn’t just be on the player.
True, but if you already got nailed once before and another suspension would open you up to this suspension and possibly voiding such a huge contract, you’d think he’d either avoid the supplements all together or buy them in a way to leave no doubt.
Trubisky is not outgoing we dont want him on our team! We want johnny manziel instead
Exactly! Having an excitable personality/being outspoken is one of the most ridiculous and overrated of the stereotypical leadership traits. There are plenty of calm/cool/collected leaders in this world who get the job done.
I’ve never seen Trubisky throw a pass, but those evaluators commenting on his personality are thinking about selling tickets, not winning football games.
Golf and Wentz are such HUGE personalities they dropped to 1 and 2 in last years draft… :/