Kirk Cousins is currently signed to the franchise tag, but that has not stopped teams from talking to the Washington Redskins about him. The Cleveland Browns may or may not want to acquire the quarterback.
The Washington Redskins appear to be set on having Kirk Cousins be their starting quarterback. However, they did not want to sign him to a lucrative, long term extension in the neighborhood of what he is worth. While the Redskins want to ink Cousins to a $20 million per year deal, Cousins is seeking a deal near the $24 million range. That is the upper end of the quarterback market. The negotiations have caused strain on both sides in the relationship, and some expect that Cousins may want to just move on from the team.
More from Riggo's Rag
- What will Emmanuel Forbes bring to the Washington Commanders?
- Highlighting the best Commanders 2023 NFL Draft betting props
- 3 late Commanders rumors drawing buzz ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft
- 4 bold predictions for the Commanders 2023 NFL Draft
- Commanders News: Chase Young trade, draft day, CB riser and Sam Howell
That said, the Redskins have maintained that they will not budge unless they get a package like what they gave up to get Robert Griffin III. Still, their is at least one team out there that is known to be interested in Cousins – the San Francisco 49ers, whose head coach Kyle Shanahan used to be the offensive coordinator for the Redskins. However, on Tuesday afternoon, there were conflicting reports about the potential interest of another team.
According to Mike Florio of NBC’s Pro Football Talk, league sources have identified Cousins as a potential target of the Browns. Florio said this in a piece about Cousins:
"Per a league source, there’s a growing belief in some circles that the Browns will try to acquire Cousins via trade. Another source said that, when Cousins chose to sign his franchise tender last week, the one concern he had is that, after the tender is signed, he can be traded. He specifically was concerned about being traded to Cleveland."
That would make a lot of sense. For one, the Browns have had a weakness at quarterback for many years. The team also formerly employed the aforementioned Shanahan who is known to be a huge Cousins supporter. This theory would also explain why Cousins met with owner Daniel Snyder to talk about potential trades. Cousins denies that he demanded a trade on Tuesday and said that he was just inquiring if the team had interest in trading him.
Cleveland May Not Actually Be Interested
However, there are some other elements to consider. One is that Cleveland is not going to want to part with the No. 1 overall pick. They may be willing to give up the No. 12 pick, but they would then have a huge amount of money dedicated to quarterbacks this year. They just acquired Brock Osweiler in a salary dump deal with the Houston Texans, and he is going to make $16 million this year. Adding Cousins’ $24 million onto that would be a lot to cover. Plus, they have second year quarterback Cody Kessler who showed a bit of promise in limited action as a rookie.
FanSided
Also adding to the tension is the fact that Cousins would probably not sign with Cleveland long term. The Browns are one of the worst franchises in the NFL in terms of staff turnover, as head coaches, GMs, and quarterbacks never seem to last long there. Cousins may only be willing to play for Shanahan or a potentially playoff bound franchise. That makes this type of a trade seem unlikely.
According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, the Browns are unlikely to trade for Cousins. She cites the price the Browns would have to pay as an issue, but she also offered this fact:
"Three other teams have tried to trade for Cousins in the last 10 days or so and were quickly shot down, a source said."
If true, that is indeed an interesting development. The Redskins may have offers on the table that they can choose to act on. Granted, if Cousins refuses to sign an extension with the team he is traded to, that could complicate potential compensation. It is quite possible that the deals were shut down for exactly those reasons. Perhaps the Redskins are waiting to trade Cousins until later in the offseason, as his value could go up once the veteran quarterback market dries up.
Next: Kirk Cousins Denies Asking Redskins For Trade
Of course, the team could always opt not to trade him. It seems like the Redskins want to keep him. It just depends on whether or not the relationship between the two sides is repairable. Only time will tell if the Redskins-Cousins marriage will work out. If the two sides cannot compromise, then one side will have to give in and do something they do not want to do.