We learned several days ago that the Redskins offered Kirk Cousins a five-year extension that would begin in 2018, after Cousins plays out the 2017 campaign under the $23.94MM franchise tag. However, we also heard that the two sides remain far apart in negotiations, as the proposed extension does not include significant guaranteed money.
Not only is the Redskins’ current offer not sufficient to tempt Cousins, but John Keim of ESPN.com is pessimistic that a long-term deal will get done at all (some sources, Keim says, are even more pessimistic). Keim believes the club has waited too long to make an offer that Cousins will accept, and that, at this point, Cousins has more incentive to wait and see how things play out in Washington with respect to the direction of the franchise, how he meshes with coach Jay Gruden as a playcaller, etc. After all, if the Redskins want to be sure that Cousins remains with the team in 2018, they would need to apply the franchise tag for a third and final time next year, which would mean paying Cousins over $34MM. If Washington does not offer an extension that includes at least that much in fully-guaranteed money, Cousins may be better off testing the open market, where he would almost certainly be the best quarterback available.
For its part, the team continues to insist that an extension will get done, and perhaps as the July deadline for a long-term pact approaches, Washington will increase its offer enough to get Cousins to eschew the prospect of free agency in 2018. But as Keim notes, the Redskins also have to be realistic and prepare for the chance that Cousins will not be around next year. Not everyone in the organization is as convinced as departed GM Scot McCloughan that 2016 sixth-rounder Nate Sudfeld is the solution, and this year’s crop of rookie signal-callers is believed to be rather weak. Nonetheless, as Keim reports, McCloughan was “studying a lot of quarterbacks” prior to his dismissal, which could have been simple due diligence, or which could have been preparation for life with Cousins.
As our Connor Byrne wrote earlier this week, Cousins has made his case for a sizable commitment since he took over as the Redskins’ starter in 2015. He started all of the Redskins’ games over the past two seasons and helped the team to a 17-14-1 record, including an NFC East title in 2015. Along the way, Cousins combined for over 9,000 yards, 54 touchdowns and 23 interceptions.
Nobody is worth that much money, especially mediocre quarterbacks.
looked up contracts of active Nfl Quarterbacks at
looked up contracts of active Nfl Quarterbacks at
link below. Andrew Luck is listed as the highest paid QB. I haven’t taken a side by side look to compare the statistics of Luck vs Cousins, but Luck took the Colts to the Playoffs 3 times in 2012, 2013 and 2014. I believe they went to the Conference title game one time and lost. So Luck played 5 years and Cousins has played has been with Skins 5 years, but named starting QB for 2 years (first season 1 game, 2nd 5, 3rd 6, 4th 16 and 5th 16 starts. The Skins went to the Playoffs in the first year as starting QB. I’d rather keep Cousins and pay him what he’s worth. If I were Kirk and didn’t get compensated close to Luck I’d say Bye Bye.
What round were Brady and Favre taken? Hmmm.
link to spotrac.com
These things have nothing to do with draft position. Porduction. any QB can throw for yardage. Jake Plummer comes to mind. Lack of TDs is 1 of Kirk’s problems, with poor performance in tight games against good teams. Most QBs with Kirks yardage has about 40 TDs
This is way players like this don’t win Super Bowls look a what Brady does (shut up about the cheating) he takes less to make the team better not his bank account
Brady through 2016, has made $196,166,804 over his career. Only both Mannings made more during his time in the NFL. The Patriots are just great at manipulating the salary cap to keep his cap number lower that it looks like Brady is getting paid less than he is. So just stop with this “look at what Brady does” nonsense in terms of taking less money.
Brady’s last contract 6 yrs /91 MM was very team friendly. That 196 MM includes 63 MM of that 91MM leaving only 29 MM for the next 3 yrs, . 2017 – 1MM 2018 – 14MM 2019 – 14 MM. His total career earnings are higher because he has played more years while many other QBs got more per yr. Once his 1MM salary for 2017 is averaged in his 4 yr average for 2014, 15, 16 & 17 will be 16MM per yr which will rank him around 13th in the league for those 4 yrs.
Tom Brady is worth like 150 million and his wife is worth triple that. Not exactly a fair comparison.
Very true. With the amount of endorsement deals Brady gets, he doesn’t need a high salary in order to stay. Someone like Cousins, a player on a bad team and only having recent success, doesn’t have those deals and require more money.
His current net worth is rumored to be $180 mil & his wife’s net worth is rumored to $380 mil. They are definitely not hurting for money. Remember, that’s after taxes. So they have both made truck loads more than their net worth.
It’s all about College football having so few teams running pro style offenses. This forces teams without a solid QB to overpay for whatever is available. Think, Cutler, Bradford, Brock O., Sanchez etc.
Pay the man. There’s no one else better around and he can be with us for a long time and in the playoffs.
I think it probably isn’t about the money, he wants out of DC. I think he wants to move out west where the weather isn’t so brutal.
The Redskins are idiots. The man has some of the best stats at QB over the past few years. As a browns fan we would love to have him. Sometimes you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone
Well said. Imagine the 2018 season and Cousins is the QB that takes his team deep into the Playoffs (or SB game) and the Skins may or may not get to the Playoffs.
The Skins have made so many poor decisions that they are afraid to make any decisions ()
Well said. Imagine the 2018 season and Cousins is the QB that takes his team deep into the Playoffs (or SB game) and the Skins may or may not get to the Playoffs.
The Skins have made so many poor decisions that they are afraid to make ANY decisions (which is a decision in and of itself). So we go from Horrible (not just bad) impulsive
decisions (manic) to giving up control by being afraid to make any decision (depression). For those of you that believe that the Skins are dysfunctional does the diagnosis Bipolar Disorder cross your mind?
We, the FANS Deserve BETTER.
The Redskins painted themselves into a corner with Cousins. They should have forced him to sign a team friendly extension with minimal guarantees before giving him the starting job. What would he have done, refuse? Then they clearly should have extended him after 2015 instead of trying to lowball him. Dumb. Having put themselves in that position, they should have prepared a Plan B, since it was obvious they would end up where they are now. Instead, they did nothing. Trading him to Houston for BO and pckcs would have been a decent option too.
looked up contracts of active Nfl Quarterbacks at
link below. Andrew Luck is listed as the highest paid QB. I haven’t taken a side by side look to compare the statistics of Luck vs Cousins, but Luck took the Colts to the Playoffs 3 times in 2012, 2013 and 2014. I believe they went to the Conference title game one time and lost. So Luck played 5 years and Cousins has played has been with Skins 5 years, but named starting QB for 2 years (first season 1 game, 2nd 5, 3rd 6, 4th 16 and 5th 16 starts. The Skins went to the Playoffs in the first year as starting QB. I’d rather keep Cousins and pay him what he’s worth. If I were Kirk and didn’t get compensated close to Luck I’d say Bye Bye.
What round were Brady and Favre taken? Hmmm.
link to spotrac.com
It’s really not about the money at the end of the day he wants to go to San Francisco and nowhere else that he feels very comfortable Shanahan and trust me things in by next year and will be looking extremely upwards and I think the Niners will be a prime contender for the next decade