Franchise Tag Deadline Looming for Three Teams

The deadline passed Monday for Kirk Cousins to sign a long-term deal, meaning the Washington quarterback will play a second consecutive season on the franchise tag.

Team president Bruce Allen said in a prepared statement that the team’s goal was to sign Cousins to a long-term contract and offered him $53 million guaranteed or $72 million for injury.

Well, no. What Cousins preferred was to receive an offer anywhere close to what he’d get in free agency, which he hasn’t been allowed to test for two straight offseasons thanks to the exclusive franchise tag.

In any accent, the communication between Washington and Cousins – who has started every game in the last two seasons – doesn’t appear to be going well. If you’re an executive who doesn’t want to eventually pay large sums of money for a quarterback, my suggestion is to try another sport. Then, according to a report from Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan in Washington, Cousins’ offered the Redskins a three-year contract worth $19 million per season.

They consider Cousins’ accomplishments over the past two years and feel that the money offered doesn’t do justice to his market value given the situation.

The team that faded from a Super Bowl spot to a losing season in 2016 fired Dave Gettleman on Monday, eight days before the Panthers get down to preseason business.

Once again, Cousins will play a year under the franchise tag. Andrew Luck and Joe Flacco signed new deals that didn’t guarantee them $43.9 million, and Derek Carr’s new contract of $125 million only contains $40 million in guarantees. “When you look around the league and you see great quarterbacks, they’ve almost all played for one team”.

Cousins and executives called negotiations positive, and they may go through this again next spring.

Cousins didn’t blame Washington for the lack of a long-term agreement, even if he had every right to.

Today, Cousins is, in essence, saying the same thing to the Redskins. The Redskins continue to get egg on their face whenever there’s news on Cousins and his contract dealings with the team.

Cousins earned the eighth-highest overall grade among NFL quarterbacks last season from Pro Football Focus.

There have been plenty of stories written about Kirk Cousins desire to stay in with the Redskins in the long term.

The Redskins have options to keep Cousins under franchise control next season as well. That means the two sides can not negotiate a new agreement until after the coming season.

If Cousins indeed hits free agency next offseason, San Francisco will become a leading contender to sign him. The 28-year-old is open to working a deal with the Redskins after this season, a source familiar with the situation told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Cousins threw for 4,917 yards with 25 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 2016. Cousins broke into the National Football League in 2012 under Kyle Shanahan, who was the offensive coordinator under his father, Mike Shanahan.

Does it intensify the speculation if Cousins even wants to be in Washington?

Cousins will make just under million in 2017, which ranks third in the league behind Flacco and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer.

“If I’m getting tagged a third time, that means this season went really, really well and that would be a lovely thing”, he said.