Washington Redskins: What’s next for Kirk Cousins?

The Washington Redskins and bad quarterback play go hand-in-hand. That’s why it’s so surprising when someone comes in and plays the position well.

In 2015, that man was Kirk Cousins. After years of playing backup to Robert Griffin III, Cousins was finally given a chance to be the full-time starting quarterback, becoming the first quarterback since Jason Campbell in 2009 to start all 16 games at quarterback for the Redskins.

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The 27-year old didn’t disappoint. In fact, he had one of the best seasons a Redskins’ quarterback has ever had. Cousins threw for a Washington record 4,166 yards, while throwing 29 touchdowns compared to only 11 interceptions. He even led the team in rushing touchdowns, with five.

Now that kind of season would warrant a pretty decent sized payday, correct? Not in this case. The Redskins couldn’t strike a deal with Cousins, so they placed the Franchise Tag on the quarterback (via Alex Reimer of SBNation). This meant that he would be under contract with the Redskins for one-year, and he would receive $20 million.

The Redskins could still work out a deal with the Michigan State product however. They had until 4:00 PM on July 15 to figure this deal out or it wasn’t going to happen, Cousins would official be playing under the Franchise Tag in 2016. Welp, Friday was that deadline, and it came and went, and no deal was made. Cousins is officially a Franchise Tag player this season.

That’s a perfect situation for both parties if you ask me.

If Cousins believes in himself, which he seems to, then he should feel confident that he can make this work for him. Yes, some players at his position absolutely got grossly overpaid this offseason.

*cough* Brock Osweiler *cough*

Despite that, Cousins wasn’t going to get that elite status contract because he’s had turnover problems in the past (18 touchdowns compared to 19 interceptions in his career heading into 2015) and only balled out for one season. If he can prove he wasn’t just a one-year wonder however, Cousins will be seeing dollar signs next offseason.

I know that it’s not exactly easy to duplicate or improve on the numbers he put up last season, but he’s in the perfect situation to do it. He’s got all the same targets back, and then some. Cousins now has Josh Doctson, Niles Paul, Vernon Davis, and Keith Marshall added to the list of weapons at his disposal.

For the Redskins, they get a chance to see him again. If he performs well enough, yes they will absolutely have to throw stupid numbers his way during contract negotiations. However, those numbers won’t be much higher than what he was asking for this offseason, so there’s no reason to rush the contract.

If Cousins doesn’t perform in 2016, and proves he was just a flash in the pan, then the Redskins will have averted a dreadful situation that they’ve run into countless times. The classic “pay a guy insane amounts of money just so he can flop and leave the team before his contract is even up” move.

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So the Franchise Tag is simple. If Cousins does not perform, the Redskins dodged a bullet, and they move on to the next guy.

What would it be? Something like starting QB number 475 since 2000?

If Cousins does perform, pay him the big bucks, and finally enjoy having a competent quarterback in the Nations Capital for more than one season.

Personally, I see a lot of money in Cousins future. Fluke seasons are absolutely a thing, but this doesn’t seem like one of those situations. The Redskins quarterback performed extremely well last season despite no running game and missing some pieces in the passing game. For example, DeSean Jackson missed some time, and Paul was out the entire season.

Give Cousins those weapons back, and add an improved (ever-so-slightly) running game, and he’s got no reason to struggle. His entire career, he’s shown flashes of greatness, was 2015 just a giant flash, or a sign of things to come?

So what’s next for Cousins? That’s up to him.