Washington Redskins: Playtime is over, Either Pay Kirk Cousins or Let Him Go
There comes a point in every team’s history where they must make a decision on whether their team succeeds or fails. Usually, most look at the play on the field but the real choices are made by the front office. Maybe it’s a free agent pickup, a draft pick but, in the case with the Washington Redskins, it’s them being on the fence with their starting QB, Kirk Cousins.
The Skins are heading into their second offseason and still are not able to come to terms with Cousins. I mean, how hard can it really be? What are they afraid of? Cousins took a gamble on himself last year by taking the franchise tag and he proved to the team that he was worth the money. However, here we go again. The Redskins have a price they’re not willing to divulge, and Cousin’s camp need not say anything as his numbers will do all the talking for him.
So why the hold up?
If the Redskins can pay CB Josh Norman $15M per year to play a position that’s not as important as QB and only hand Cousins a check for $19.9M then there’s a problem somewhere in the front office. Don’t get me wrong, I understood their hesitation last season as they were maybe wondering if they were seeing the same results of the Robert Griffin curse. One good season and then it all went downhill. But, Cousins answered right back with stats of 4917 yards, 25 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a completion percentage of 67%. The numbers weren’t Drew Brees or Matt Ryan worthy but he took the Skins as far as he could.
What has Andrew Luck done to warrant a bigger payday than Cousins? Why is Brock Osweiler in Cousins tax bracket? C’mon Redskins, you have to be smarter than this. If you don’t want to pay the man the $23-24M per he’s worth then let him go and start over. There are 10 teams in the NFL that are on the hunt for a lead QB and at least another three that are on the bubble with the ones they have. And here you are playing Russian Roulette with a 4900+ yard passer as if they just grow on trees.
The Cleveland Browns would love to take Cousins off their hands and are willing to offer up a package that could set the Skins straight for a few years. Let’s not forget about the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills and possibly the Jacksonville Jaguars. See Washington, the more you continue to play around with your future, the more you give Cousins leverage to destroy what you’re trying to build.
The Redskins came into the 2016-17 season with dreams of running away with the NFC East but were stuck with the competitiveness of the Eagles, Cowboys, and Giants. However, seeing that still has not kicked negotiations into high gear. The division is now on the rise and it’s no longer a one-team race to the top. The Skins missed the playoffs last year and maybe, just maybe that has stalled them on offering Cousins a contract. If that’s the case then they must man up and make a decision.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
