Kirk Cousins Not Likely To Sign Contract Before Franchise Tag Deadline

Kirk Cousins is unlikely to siign a long term deal prior to the franchise tag deadline. The Washington Redskins will now have to make a choice.

In a move that will surprise very few, it is being reported that Kirk Cousins is not planning on signing a long term deal with the Washington Redskins prior to the franchise tag deadline. The reports, which came via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, seem to indicate that Cousins will gain some leverage on the team in negotiations if he ends up being franchised again.

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Because the long term deal option is now off the table, for the moment, the Redskins will have to decide whether or not to tag Cousins. It seems almost certain that they will tag the quarterback, but the key is that they will never be able to afford to tag him a third time. This will potentially make Cousins an unrestricted free agent heading into 2018, and the team would be unable to protect against possibly losing him.

As the team repeatedly applies the franchise tag, the value goes up by a certain percentage. For 2018, Cousins would make the current value of his franchise tag, roughly $24 million, plus 20 percent of that for a number that would be close to $30 million. No NFL team can afford to pay that, so essentially the Redskins would have a short period of time to figure out their course of action at quarterback. They already have been lukewarm on Cousins in the past, which means he may be less likely to want to re-up with them.

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Essentially, the Redskins will have a couple of choices after they tag Cousins. The first is they could try and trade him to a quarterback needy team. The San Francisco 49ers have showed a lot of interest, and teams like the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams, and maybe even the Denver Broncos may be interested in talking about Cousins. The 49ers would still be the most likely landing spot, and it seems doubtful that the Redskins would be able to make a blockbuster deal because of his contract situation.

Of course, the other option is to attempt to negotiate with Cousins. They could try to sign him to a long term deal prior to July 15, but given that the front office has not showed a heavy interest in Cousins, they may just have him play out the tag. If he were to play well, then the team would have to give up a lot of money to make him a Redskin for life.

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At the end of the day, Cousins has all the leverage. This will be frustrating for the fans and front office alike to watch. Cousins will eventually get the big payday he deserves, but for now it appears that he will be on another short term deal.

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