The Redskins can’t commit to Kirk Cousins long-term, so why should team president Bruce Allen know his name, right?
Monday afternoon’s deadline came and went without a long-term deal for Kirk Cousins with the Washington Redskins, as expected. So he’ll play for franchise tag money for the second straight year, which isn’t too bad all things considered. A third franchise tag will be cost prohibitive for Washington, and team president Bruce Allen essentially publicly called out Cousins and/or his agent on Monday for not taking a below-market offer with no real commitment from the team beyond 2018.
The Redskins have bungled the Cousins contract situation practically from the start, and they have not formed any real plan for when he’ll now inevitably be gone in 2018. Even if good faith long-term contract talks that don’t paint the player as greedy had been going on, it would help if a key person in the Redskins’ organization could call Cousins by the proper first name.
Please enjoy Bruce Allen calling his franchise quarterback by the wrong first name six times in two minutes pic.twitter.com/BVkahmTeqo
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) July 18, 2017
"Kurt" Cousins is as good as gone.pic.twitter.com/2UoJWmhCWu
— Rob Lowder (@Rob_Lowder) July 17, 2017
Apparently, this is not the first time Allen has been perceived to be calling Cousins “Kurt.”
4 months later: He's still "Kurt" and he's still not signing a long term deal here... #Redskins https://t.co/aeUpCgETgF
— Danny Favret (@Danny_Favret) July 17, 2017
I say it’s a little inconclusive that Allen is indeed saying “Kurt” rather than “Kirk” in reference to Cousins. But it’s a wide perception among media members covering the team, and ESPN.com’s John Keim apparently asked for an explanation and got an excuse pointing to Allen’s accent.
Oh wow @john_keim asked the skins why Allen called Cousins "Kurt." Turns out it's his accent pic.twitter.com/QgZXGNZF8f
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) July 18, 2017
Related Story: 5 best fits for Kirk Cousins in 2018
Allen’s accent is the thing that makes his pronunciation of Cousins’ first name a little tough to discern, but that doesn’t make it a good excuse as a part of the big picture. The Redskins continue to get egg on their face whenever there’s news on Cousins and his contract dealings with the team. Taking things public the way they did against Cousins on Monday has to be driven by owner Dan Snyder, with Allen as the mouthpiece and punching bag for criticism.