John Matthews
WMAL.com
ASHBURN, VA — (WMAL) As they head into their 80th season, it appears the Redskins are set on making history again.
Unless some sort of unexpected deal is reached by 4 pm Monday, their starting quarterback, Kirk Cousins, will become the first quarterback in NFL history to play a second consecutive season under a franchise tag.
The franchise tag is a mechanism created by the NFL and its players union that allows teams to hold on to players on a short-term basis – one year at a time – at a usually-cost prohibitive price.
Cousins will play the 2017 season at a salary of 23.9 million dollars, one of the highest salaries in the NFL.
The Redskins and Cousins’ agent, Mike McCartney, have been in talks for months, but have been unable to reach agreement on a long-term deal that provide both the player and the team some measure of security.
ESPN reported over the weekend that Cousins is not expected to sign a deal, but would be open to discussing a long-term deal after the upcoming season. It is not believed that either side came particularly close to an agreement during the off-season on a long-term contract.
If, as expected, the deadline comes and goes without a deal, it could prove to be somewhat beneficial to the team and its players, says WMAL Redskins analyst Trevor Matich.
“They will be hyper-focused on this year, because this will be the last year they can count on having a quarterback that they’ve developed over a couple of years who’s proven he can complete passes with some of the best of them,” says Matich.
If Cousins does move on in 2018, the Redskins will have no options at quarterback aside from journeyman backup Colt McCoy and unproven second-year player Nate Sudfeld, but Matich says that’s a problem for next season. He wonders whether the team will spend THIS season regretting they didn’t sign Cousins – again.
“I’m not saying the Redskins are a Super Bowl team this year, but they will be a very good team, and every game that they win – every time they progress towards the playoffs, that scenario becomes more and more possible.”
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