Kirk Cousins won’t be signing a long-term deal with the Washington Redskins before the season, which opens the door for the San Francisco 49ers.
Given how things have gone over the past two years, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the Washington Redskins and Kirk Cousins won’t be coming to a deal. The assumption has been for quite some time that would be the case. And, on Sunday, that was all but confirmed with just over 24 hours before the July 17 deadline to sign franchise tagged players.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Sunday that Cousins was not expected to sign a long-term deal. Again, this should come with little shock to most fans. There has been a gap between what fans want and what individual members of the front office want in Washington for some time. That includes former general manager Scot McCloughan wanting a long-term deal for the quarterback, while other members of the front office disagreed (per CBS Sports).
Another part of Schefter’s report is that he’s “open” to still negotiating with the Redskins after the 2017 season. While that may be the case, the door is now clearly open for the San Francisco 49ers to make a move in 2018.
The 49ers head into the 2017 season in the midst of a rebuild and with a new head coach and general manager, Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch, respectively. Cousins to the 49ers rumors have swirled since Shanahan’s arrival as the two have been connected, and as San Francisco doesn’t have a long-term answer at quarterback. Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley may be solid stopgaps as they decide their direction, but they aren’t the future.
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At 29 years old, Kirk Cousins potentially could be. It all depends on if Shanahan wants to reunite and if the front office believes he’ll be the guy.
Washington will have money to throw at Cousins next season. However, there’s almost no way that they would feasibly be able to franchise tag him again. His cap hit would be nearly $35 million were that to happen, a number that no front office in their right mind is stomaching when they could lock a player up to a deal that’s much cheaper.
But as mentioned in the report regarding McCloughan, the members of the front office still in tow weren’t sold on Cousins in 2015 and likely still aren’t given how the situation has played out to now. If that’s the case, they’re going to be at a disadvantage if the 49ers do decide to pursue him.
San Francisco has $66 million in cap space heading into the 2017 season. As reported by CSN Bay Area, they are adamant about rolling over that space to next year. In doing so, they’d put themselves in the driver’s seat in a Cousins sweepstakes. No matter how the Redskins tried to maneuver things, the only way they’d be able to match the 49ers would be to just pay the man. It’s clear, at this point at least, they’re reluctant to do that.
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Obviously nothing is certain in this situation. Perhaps Kirk Cousins plays well enough to change the mind of the Redskins front office. Or maybe the 49ers would rather try their hand at landing a quarterback in the draft. Whatever, the case, though, Washington not getting a deal done before Monday opens the door for the Niners if they wan to walk through it.