Since he emerged as the competent heir to the RGIII era in Washington, the team has been loathe to sign quarterback Kirk Cousins to a long term extension, instead opting to place the franchise tag on him in successive years. There’s been a sense on the team’s side that he’s not worth franchise QB-level money. Hilariously, the nature of the tag—and Cousins playing a position that gets paid in the NFL—has resulted in Washington paying a fortune for a guy they don’t want to pay a fortune for.
Washington tagged him this year, and attempted to sign him to a long term deal before the deadline passed this afternoon, but Cousins wasn’t having it. So now he will make nearly $24 million this year, and become a free agent next year. This made Bruce Allen very cranky.
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This is one of the most brazen attempts at swinging public support from a player to ownership I can remember. Allen basically went out there and said I think it’s important Washington fans know that their starting quarterback is a greedy athlete who doesn’t care about the team and just wants as much money as he can possibly get.
Please recall that Washington owner Daniel Snyder is a billionaire who has done his best to run this franchise into the ground, and that he and the 31 other owners want a salary cap so they can hoard their money because, shock of shocks, they are the actual greedy ones. And as Bruce Allen helpfully points out, they don’t even offer fully guaranteed contracts to the guys they are trying to smear. There is no circumstance under which you should ever find yourself siding with ownership/front office over an athlete. None.
Cousins isn’t greedy and he doesn’t owe Washington any kind of hometown discount. He’s a guy who’s been jerked around by his team for the past two years and is now looking at a significant pay day because Washington blew its window and teams will actually get to fight for his services. Franchise quarterbacks don’t often make it to free agency in the NFL, but they don’t often make it to Washington, either.
