There’s lots of talk about the Redskins and Kirk Cousins working out a deal in the mold of Derek Carr‘s record-breaking pact, but JP Finlay of CSNMidAtlantic.com wonders aloud if the two sides could instead do a shorter-term deal with full guarantees instead. The Redskins claim they are comfortable with going year-to-year with Cousins and controlling him for at least two more seasons via tags. However, that would mean paying out $24MM in 2017 and $34MM in 2018 with no certainty for 2019 and beyond. Instead, Finlay proposes a three-year deal worth $24MM per season with full guarantees. Given Cousins’ willingness to bet on himself, I have a hard time seeing the QB accepting such an offer, but it’s certainly a creative proposal.
Here’s more from the NFC:
- One 49ers employee tells Albert Breer of The MMQB that Colin Kaepernick wouldn’t stay late at the facility during the season like many quarterbacks routinely do, opting instead to take work home. That didn’t set well with coaches who felt that his mediocre prep work led to bad mistakes in games. When asked if he thinks Kaepernick wants to continue playing, another team employee said, “I do think he wants to play—to stay relevant.” It should be noted that Kaepernick tossed only four interceptions against 16 touchdowns last season, so his errors did not result in a ton of turnovers. However, a player’s TD/INT rate obviously does not take other play-reading errors into account, such as missing an open receiver.
- Free agent Alterraun Verner is still without a team as July approaches, but the former Buccaneers cornerback remains hopeful that he’ll find an NFL home for 2017. “I’ve worked out for a few teams including the Jaguars. I feel very confident something will happen come late summer,” Verner told SiriusXM (on Twitter). Verner was supposedly out of shape when he auditioned for Jacksonville and, as far as we know, the rumored mulligan on the workout never came to fruition.
- Panthers tight end Greg Olsen is not ruling out the possibility of a holdout.