Kirk Cousins will be playing this season under his second straight franchise tag. If the Skins decide to put the transition tag on him after the year, or franchise him again, he will be making between $28.8 million and $35 million for one season, and then he will be able to leave anyway. The Skins have messed this entire situation up like no other franchise possibly could. To call Dan Snyder's front office a dumpster fire is insulting to hard-working, patriotic dumpster fires all over this nation. At this point, the best thing to do may be to call it quits now, and get what you can for a QB in his prime. So, here are the 5 options for what the Redskins can do with Kirk Cousins.
1. Come to your senses and sign him long term!
This one my be too little too late. I believe Kirk wants to be in DC. I don't believe he wants to play for the Washington Redskins. Maybe he can just live here? The odds of Snyder et al finally paying him what he can get on the open market are slim to none. Remember, Derek Carr is coming off a season where he broke his leg, and just became the highest paid QB in NFL history. If Kirk Cousins stays healthy and plays like he has the past 2 years, he will get a bigger contract. The Skins should have signed him then, they probably won't now.
2. Tag him, then let him walk.
This is stupid, and might be what they do. Someone will offer him more money that the Skins are willing to pay, and he will be out the door. Maybe it is ok, because Doug Williams loves the third string QB.
3. Trade him to the Cleveland Browns for a 1st round pick, 4th/5th round pick, and Brock Osweiler.
The Skins want a QB from the same draft class with starting experience for under $20 million a year? Brock is their man! He was recently sent to Cleveland in a salary dump move usually reserved just for the NBA. In the same transaction, the Browns got Houston's 2018 1st round pick. Send Brock, the pick, and a lower round pick (since the Skins will take that contract from them) in exchange for the real starting QB that the Browns have lacked since coming back into the league. It may just be for 1 year, but it gives Deshone Kizer more time to develop behind a guy with real experience and success.
4. Trade him to the San Francisco 49ers for a 1st round pick and either Matt Barkley or Brian Hoyer.
The worst kept secret in the world is that new 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan wants Kirk in the Bay area. Kirk's agent has even mentioned that Kirk would like that reunion too, since the Shanahans always liked Cousins more than they did RG3. Trade him to SF where he will be happy and likely sign an extension, and get a pick and another QB to compete for the starting job in DC until the new next big thing is found.
5. Trade him to the Los Angeles Rams for Jared Goff and a 2nd round pick.
Not sure why more people aren't discussing this as a possibility. Rams fans are already turning on Goff after a poor/non-existent rookie season. While rookie QBs Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz looked like true pros, Goff struggled in the little time he spent on the field, to the point where Coach Jeff Fisher lost his job. The Rams' new head coach? Former Redskins Offensive Coordinator and Kirk Cousins friend Sean McVay. It is almost too perfect. The Redskins can give the Rams an instant star and franchise player. The Rams can send back a former #1 pick going into his second season to possibly be the next franchise QB (that won't get paid a fair amount), and a pick as a kicker. This might be the best case scenario for everyone involved.
I still don't understand how the Skins played this one so poorly. However, it is what fans of their have come to expect. If they actually had sustained success, I think half the population of the DMV area would die of shock. Kirk Cousins helped guide this franchise to the playoffs, and out of the muck that was the broken RG3 era. The best way to repay him not may not be to pay him, it may be to let him escape the carnage. He can move on, the team can move on, and there will be a new starting QB for the Washington Redskins. Now, where can I get a Nate Sudfeld jersey?
