Now that he’s going to be departing as a free agent, Kirk Cousins compiled a farewell letter aimed at Redskins fans. However, did Cousins give away his possible destination in the tags portion of his open letter? The earliest version of the quarterback’s published post had “Jets” and “Vikings” as tags, among many other entries, Will Brinson of CBS Sports tweets. So, either the person responsible for operating the tags forgot to leave those out, or has Cousins’ list been narrowed down to two? Of the serious suitors, the Vikings and Jets would make the most sense to be the teams offering a fully guaranteed contract. None of those teams ready to make those offers have been identified. The Broncos and Cardinals do not have as much cap space, though, perhaps making such a proposal dicey. But no finalists have yet to emerge.
Here’s the latest from around the league on Tampering Day 1:
- Cousins’ old team is ready to commit plenty of guaranteed money to another quarterback. Alex Smith‘s four-year, $94MM Redskins deal is soon to become official, and the contract contains guarantees that surpass Jimmy Garoppolo‘s. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter) Smith’s deal includes $55MM guaranteed at signing and $71MM fully guaranteed by the start of the 2019 league year. Those figures are almost what Matthew Stafford earned with the Lions on his 2017 extension and more than Garoppolo’s 49ers deal. Garoppolo remains the clubhouse leader with $27.5MM AAV, but that contract is light on guarantees compared to other recent re-ups. And Cousins’ contract could well blow those agreements out of the water and represent a seismic shift in NFL contracts, should it indeed be a fully guaranteed deal.
- Broncos defensive end Adam Gotsis was arrested on rape charges stemming from an alleged 2013 incident while he was a student at Georgia Tech, Kirk Mitchell and Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post report. Gotsis surrendered on the charge of strong-arm rape at the Fulton County Jail and was released upon paying a $50K bond, the Denver Post duo reports. Gotsis, who the Broncos drafted in the second round in 2016, has been accused of overcoming the will of a 25-year-old woman in March 2013. The Australia native became a starter for the Broncos last season. “We were recently informed of an investigation into an alleged incident involving Adam Gotsis that occurred in 2013 when he was in college. Our organization was aware of his arrest on March 7, and it is our understanding that no determination has been made at this time as to whether any charges will be filed,” the Broncos said in a statement. “The Broncos take an accusation of this nature very seriously and will continue to closely monitor the legal proceedings.”
Cousins was not interested in 24-25 mill a year… wanted as much as he could get. Would be surprised if he settles less the 30
Because the guarantees on that contract were minimal. If I’m not mistaken, the guaranteed money on the contract the Redskins offer was basically the value of the franchise tag Cousins got last year and another $20m or so this year (so around $50m guaranteed total).
I still don’t understand why the Redskins are paying top-dollar (in addition to a pick and a fairly important member of their secondary) for Smith when they could have just spent a few more million per year to extend Cousins.
Cousins showed no leadership on the Redskins, was not well liked by teammates, clashed with ownership, has a very disagreeable and excessively greedy agent. In general he was a prat. And an expensive one at that. With that personality profile he was not going to lead his teammates to a salad bowl, let alone a Superbowl, whatever his statistics (often wracked up in garbage time or against weaker opponents).
All Cousins does is pass to check downs and let the player’s make the yards and run. He padded his stats this way to get 300 a game and 4k to make everyone in the NFL think and world think he’s really good. No, he’s average with a lack of the intangibles to lead any team successfully.
Why would anyone pay a premium for that kind of performance?
Why would the Redskins ever let Cousins go. He’s everything we have always wanted. It’s the worst decision I think I have ever seen. Jay