With the Redskins playing the Niners this week, Kirk Cousins is getting swarmed with questions about his history – and potential future – with Kyle Shanahan. During a conference call with reporters, Cousins said that the Shanahans’ plan in 2012 was to develop him, play him in the preseason, then trade him for picks to help the Redskins build for the future (Twitter link via Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee).
Fortunately for the Redskins, Mike Shanahan and his son did not follow through on that plan. And, fortunately for the 49ers, it doesn’t sound like Cousins is holding a grudge for any of that.
Here’s more on Cousins plus other news out of the NFC East:
- It’s not just the Niners that could land Cousins in free agency this offseason. Mike Sando of ESPN.com weighed the possibility of the Redskins signal caller signing with several different QB-needy teams, including the Jets. The Jets, of course, have no plausible solution at quarterback going forward and free agency could be their answer if they don’t like the QBs in their draft range this year. Sando also considers teams like the Dolphins, Browns, Bills, Jaguars, and Vikings as possibilities.
- Redskins coach Jay Gruden readily admits that it could be difficult for the team to keep Cousins this offseason (link via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com). “At the end of the day this is a business and contracts are what they are,” Gruden said. “Players have agents and the player is always going to do what he thinks is best for himself and the family. Kirk is a great guy and we intend on keeping him. That is the plan, I would think. I’m sure not just San Francisco, if he was a free agent, I’m sure there’s a lot of teams that would be coming after him, not just San Francisco. The more tape that Kirk puts on film that he performs well like he has the last couple weeks, the harder it will be to keep him around but I think we’ll do the best we can to keep him.”
- Cowboys coach Jason Garrett says that Stephen Paea‘s decision to retire was “all about not being able to play any more to the level he felt like he wanted to play at,” (Twitter link via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News). Paea was dealing with a knee injury that was affecting his performance and decided to hang ’em up on Wednesday.
- Former Redskins GM Scot McCloughan believes that Colin Kaepernick should be playing. “You know, I’m not gonna get into the politics about it, because I’m not in an office right now where I’m around it every day. I just know this: when I was in Seattle, we had some great battles, the 49ers and Seahawks. Some with Alex [Smith], and then Alex left and then Colin took over. Colin’s a good football player,” McCloughan said to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. “From the talent standpoint, no doubt about it, he should be in the league. No doubt about it.”