Washington Redskins: Don’t Franchise Tag Kirk Cousins

Kirk Cousins is going to be a free agent and the Washington Redskings don’t have a deal in place—again. This time around, the franchise tag won’t cut it.

Last season, the Washington Redskins and Kirk Cousins couldn’t come to an agreement after his breakout campaign. Due to this, the franchise tag was placed on Cousins. This was actually an ideal situation for the Redskins, as they now had an extra year to see Cousins’ abilities. If he repeated his success, a real deal was sure to be put in place.

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Cousins more than answered the call in terms of production. While Washington missed the playoffs, the Michigan State product shattered his passing yards mark in 2016, helped by throws like this:

He threw for a franchise record 4,917 yards, breaking the previous record set by himself last year (4,166). However, he also threw just 25 touchdowns (down from 29 in 2015) compared to 12 interceptions (up from 11). Meanwhile, the Redskins went 8-7-1, a little worse than their 9-7 record the previous year. So both Cousins and the Redskins enjoyed around the same success in 2016 as they did in 2015.

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With the season over, the Redskins still haven’t signed Cousins to a new deal, and are apparently considering the franchise tag once again. This time around, it’s not going to work in anyone’s favor.

Cousins will be 29 next season. That’s not old for a quarterback, but he’s not getting any younger. Meanwhile, the Redskins current roster is decent, but not a Super Bowl contender. Sure, a few additions could thrust them into the playoff picture. However, winning the whole thing still seems to be a few years away.

Giving Cousins the tag only stalls the process. Either give him a long-term deal and try to build around him, or cut the strings and start from scratch. Obviously, there will be people who strongly agree and strongly disagree with each side of this. On one hand, Cousins has proven he can lead a high-powered offense. On the other hand, he’s struggled in big games and in the red zone.

Giving him a long-term deal gives the Redskins a chance to build around a proven quarterback who has some flaws, but is good enough to win with. Adding some much needed players on defense (such as to the line and secondary) and maybe another offensive lineman, might be all that’s needed. If Cousins and the Redskins can figure it out in the red zone, they could be a winner.

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Cutting ties with Cousins starts the Redskins back at step one. They already have some solid pieces (like a good offensive line, great weapons, and a few studs on defense), now it would be a search for a quarterback. There are some intriguing names in this draft, such as Mitch Trubisky (stud), Deshaun Watson (probable stud), and DeShone Kizer (extremely raw prospect). If the Redskins could get their hands on one of them, the restart will happen much faster. If they can’t there are still some quarterbacks in the draft that have potential, or they could wait until next year.

No matter what way the Redskins choose to go, both are better than putting the franchise on freeze for another year.