Kirk Cousins does not get extension from Washington

Kirk Cousins will play this season on the franchise tag for the Washington Redskins.

Washington has been in a tough spot with it’s quarterback situation the past couple years. The drama isn’t going away any time soon. Per ESPN:

Cousins is officially set to play next season without a long-term contract. Washington offered Cousins a decent contract – but that isn’t how quarterback negotiations work these days. The bank gets broken almost every time.

What’s more, Washington is known for their heavy spending on big names – so this show of financial restraint is smart, if not surprising.

There’s a reason Cousins would reject $24 million in guarantees:

If Cousins proves himself elite next season, Washington will have no choice but to pay him top dollar. Cousins knows this. Washington knows this too, and letting him play on the tag shows they are not sure he’s the answer. It works for them as well; they don’t have to commit long-term to someone they aren’t sure of, and their new signal-caller gets a massive raise.

Going to $20 million this season is a huge raise for him, but it only gets better over time:

If they can’t come to an agreement again, Cousins gets another large raise of 20 percent. If he proves himself, he gets a deal on par with the largest ones in the NFL.

There is, of course, the possibility of an awful year that drops Cousins’ stock completely. But as Dan Steinberg points out here, that’s just fine with him. Both sides have interest in Cousins succeeding and demanding a long-term megadeal.

One year from now, we’ll know if we should trust No. 8 as a betting man.

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