Kirk Cousins has already been franchised tagged the past two seasons and appears to want to wait out his next payday too. The 29-year-old quarterback is set to become a free agent in March and recently elaborated on his desire to wait until that time in order to max out his value, reports John Keim of ESPN.com.
“I see us taking our time,” Cousins said. “You can only just go year to year for so long, but that’s why it’s first things first. Let’s get away from the season a little bit and then let’s gather some information as to what the rest of the league is looking like, who’s being hired, who’s being fired. … It’s hard to make decisions now because there are so many dominoes to fall between now and then to influence it.”
Free agency is set to begin on March 14 with Washington having the chance to franchise tag him again for a stunning $34.5MM by the March 6 deadline. That scenario seems highly unlikely given how much that salary would hamstring the rest of the roster. However, the Redskins could decide to apply the $28.8MM transition tag in order to maintain some control over his future. While the team won’t receive any compensation should Cousins agree to another team on a transition tag, it does give Washington the chance to match any offer if he does sign with another team.
It certainly seems based on his comments that Cousins would like to test the free agent waters after being agreeing to play on the franchise tags for the past two years. However, that doesn’t mean he won’t consider re-signing with the Redskins if the price is right.
“It’s been a very positive six years,” he said. “Obviously we don’t have Super Bowl rings to show for it, we don’t have playoff wins. But it’s a privilege to play here. I’ve always felt that, and I’d be foolish to say I don’t want to be here.”
Cousins is not a spring chicken as he’ll turn 30 years old over the summer. He’s in his prime right now and clearly wants to get the most out of his upcoming long-term deal. If he wishes to do that, waiting until other teams have a chance to bid on him seems like the best way to do that.
Go to Arizona!!!!
Get a head coach first!!!!
Browns will have the money to pay Cousins.
That be a huge coup for them.
Good QB but zero clutch in the games with meaning…. has won absolutely nothing, but expects top pay….really…Brees and Rogers he is not. So after spending all of the last two decades without a diecent QB in Wash……no problem!
If Osweiler and Glennon can get a massive payday, Cousins can.
massive paydays….massive flops….maybe their current organizations have realized this….and the rest of the league is watching!
Glennon got a one year deal that made him the 19th highest paid QB in the league. Cousins made $10 million more than Glennon this past year. I get that Glennon wasn’t worth the money, but can we stop acting like they gave him a $75 million guarantee?
He will go to Denver.
They don’t have the cap room. In order to make it, they’re probably cutting Thomas and Sanders. Which is robbing Peter to pay Paul.
I disagree think he goes to Denver they will have plenty of cap space. Yes either sanders or Thomas probably out, restructure Vons deal and maybe even move on from Talib (which I disagree with). Bottom line is Denver needs him and will make it work
He’s not worth 10 mil a season…let alone 34.5.
And dumbest comment of the year goes to you my friend
Choke yourself
He’s worth about 17-18m a year but somebody is gonna overpay for sure
Yea I’m a fan too. I read these articles on sports everyday. I’ve cared about games since the sixties. I love the history of sports since their creativity. It’s not today’s athlete that has run afoul its us. How we can say a person is worth this or that is ridiculous, always has been. It’s a fantasy world of entertainment to a majority of us. Why we need this I really don’t know. We are all opinionated to a degree. I guess what I’m saying is I care less about sports now because of people like Cousins and his what I’m worth issues. But it’s us. Their work is just like my work. Go to work safely. Work safely and come home safely. All that other stuff please keep to yourselves or go into another line of work where you’ll be more fulfilled at end of day. I’ve myself will still read the articles but no longer will I be a fan. It’s also funny to leave comments some of you are really out there.
Yes but unfortunately money is a powerful thing. There are many overplayed athletes in this world especially baseball! I mean look at what the raiders are paying their new coach! 100 million for 10 years? Wow
Cancel your cable, don’t go to games and burn your jerseys
Cousins’ has played the monetary game quite well.
Big Ben retires. Cousins signs and throws passes to a top wr core and hands off to an ole teammate in Bell.
With what cap space? The Steelers are right up to the cap (some sites have the Steelers slightly over, some have them just slightly under) and that’s not counting a new contract for Bell. Even if Big Ben retired, his cap hit is not enough to fit in Bell and Cousins unless one or both were to take massive paycuts.
He’ll go where the money is, that should be no surprise. The Redskins won’t offer him that monster contract, instead he’ll head to a team that doesn’t have one of the best young O-lines in the league (when healthy). I’d be surprised if he reaches his age 38 season in the league, considering he might fall victim to a lot of collapsing pockets in his new home.
The real interest (at least for me) is who the redskins will go after now. With good cap space (no more Breeland and Cousins, Pryor most likely gone too), and young emerging stars like Thompson, Crowder, Fuller and Doctson, I can’t help but be excited as a skins fan. Although, needless to say with this team, I’m familiar to let downs.
Barring some random team jumping into the race, the Jags, Jets, Browns, and Broncos are the teams that make the most sense at least in terms of positional need. Can’t speak to the Jets O-line, but the Browns and Jags have one of the better O-lines in the league, and Elway has shown he is willing to invest in the O-line so I wouldn’t be too worried about that at the moment. I agree he’ll probably go to whoever offers the most money, but I’m sure offensive line situation is a big factor for him as well (same with other potential starting QBs when they hit the market).
I do wonder who the Redskins will go after. The free agent/trade market’s best option is Alex Smith whose price will go up once Cousins signs (I’d throw Eli into the potential mix there as a distant second best option after Smith, but there’s no chance he goes to the Redskins). Whoever they plug in as the short term fix, Redskins should draft a QB although doesn’t necessarily have to be taken in the first round. At the very least, they need someone they could develop and hand the keys to after two or three years.
The Jets and Browns are in a great position to draft a QB this year, and it would make sense for Kirk/Smith/Eli to land with either the Jags or the Broncos. It’s sounding like Eli will stay in NY, however it wouldn’t surprise me if Coughlin pulls Eli to Jacksonville, and Gettleman goes and gets his next franchise QB in the draft this year. Building the Panthers team would look like child’s play compared to his work building a team that’s already got a ridiculously stacked receiving corps in New York. Once that O-line is in shape, the NFC East just got a lot tougher.
All of that being said, I can’t imagine a Cousins-less scenario where the Redskins don’t draft a big name QB this year. It’s a typical Snyder move, but it’s one that might pay off this time. I just hope that they play it smart and go get some talent with this year’s payroll leverage.