Redskins Almost Extended Kirk Cousins In 2015
- Although former Redskins general manager Scot McCloughan wanted to sign Kirk Cousins to an extension during 2015 training camp, the club waited on a new Cousins deal due to concerns over how fellow quarterback Robert Griffin III would react, writes Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com. McCloughan was given the go-ahead to negotiate with Cousins in December 2015, but by then Cousins already had a season of solid production under his belt. Since that time, Washington has placed two consecutive franchise tags on Cousins at a cost of nearly $45MM.
Contract Details: Foles, Carr, Poe, Cowboys
Here’s a fun fact from Albert Breer of The MMQB (Twitter links): Of the 155 free-agent contracts that have been filed since March 9, only 23 have more than $3MM fully guaranteed in post-2017 money. In essence, that means 85.2% of the contracts done over the last ten days are one-year deals with team options.
Now for the latest contract details:
- Cornerback Brandon Carr‘s four-year, $23MM Ravens contract comes with $6MM in 2017 – most of which is by way of a $4MM signing bonus – and then the Ravens will have a 2018 team option, reports Breer (on Twitter).
- Falcons defensive tackle Dontari Poe‘s one-year, $8MM accord features a $500K signing bonus and incentives for playing time, sacks and a Pro Bowl appearance (Twitter link via Breer).
- Quarterback Nick Foles‘ previously reported two-year, $11MM deal with the Eagles is actually a five-year, $27.5MM pact, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. However, the final three years of the contract will void if Foles is still on Philadelphia’s roster 23 days before the start of the 2019 league year. The arrangement comes with $5MM in incentives and an esclator for 2018 worth as much as $6MM (Twitter links).
- Panthers defensive tackle Kyle Love‘s two-year contract is worth $2.2MM and features a few bonuses – $200K for signing, $25K for workouts and $10K per game active – as well as $500K in annual incentives, tweets Wilson.
- Cowboys running back Darren McFadden‘s one-year contract is a minimum salary benefit deal worth $980K (a salary of $900K and an $80K signing bonus). Guard Jonathan Cooper‘s single-year accord is worth $2MM and has a $31,250 bonus per game active, $500K in incentives and a $100K workout base de-esclator (Twitter links via Wilson).
- Cardinals running back/wide receiver Andre Ellington will earn a $775K base salary on his one-year agreement, tweets Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910.
- Redskins defensive tackle Ziggy Hood’s two-year, $2.7MM deal includes a $300K signing bonus, per-game active bonuses of $15,625 each, $600K in incentives and a $600K escalator. Meanwhile, the Redskins gave linebacker Chris Carter a minimum salary benefit deal worth $855K, including $775K in salary and a signing bonus of $80K, relays Wilson (Twitter links).
- Saints running back Travaris Cadet also got a minimum salary benefit contract for 2017, says Wilson (Twitter link). It’s worth $855K ($775K in salary and an $80K signing bonus).
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/16/17
The latest minor moves from around the NFL:
- The Chiefs have signed safety Marqueston Huff, according to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link). Since going in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, Huff has appeared in 41 games in stints with the Titans and Ravens, though he has only picked up one start. Huff played in 11 contests with Baltimore last year and failed to register a tackle in 32 defensive snaps. He did see plenty of special teams action, however (223 snaps).
- The Redskins have added linebacker Chris Carter, a six-year veteran who is joining his sixth team. Carter has totaled four starts, the latest of which came in 2013, and 62 appearances. The special teamer combined for 14 appearances last season between the Colts and Ravens.
- Patriots cornerback Justin Coleman has signed his exclusive rights tender, tweets ESPN’s Field Yates. Coleman, 23, has seen action in 20 games and racked up three starts in his two-year career.
Redskins Host DB Darius Butler On Visit
The Redskins are hosting Colts free agent defensive back Darius Butler on a visit today, John Keim of ESPN.com tweets. After Tony Jefferson, Duron Harmon, and Barry Church came off the board early in free agency, Butler stands as PFR’s top ranked unsigned safety. 
The beauty of Butler is that he can be plugged into multiple spots in the secondary. Keim writes that Butler would provide additional depth for the Redskins, but he could be holding out for a starting role (and salary to match). Butler has said that he hopes to transition to safety full-time in 2017.
Butler apparently reached a contract impasse with the incumbent Colts, but a return is still on the table. Butler, 31 on Saturday, also met with the Bears last week. His market has been a little slow to develop, but things could get rolling for him in the coming days.
Dolphins Inquired On Johnathan Hankins
The Dolphins have contacted free agent defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. Miami is unlikely to sign Hankins, however, given that he’s asking for at least $8MM annually.
Although they’ve now been connected to both Hankins and Dontari Poe, the Dolphins are only searching for a defensive tackle that’s willing to play rotational snaps behind Ndamukong Suh and Jordan Phillips, per Salguero. That type of player will preferably come at a cost of $3-4MM, so Miami will likely continue its search.
Hankins, 25, now ranks as PFR’s No. 1 free agent interior defender on the market. However, the buzz around Hankins has been virtually non-existent since the free agent period opened nearly a week ago. He’s been tangentially linked to the Redskins, but Mike Jones of the Washington post tweets Washington won’t use the money it saved by releasing Ricky Jean-Francois on Hankins (or Poe, for that matter).
Redskins Release Ricky Jean-Francois, Re-Sign Ziggy Hood
The Redskins have released defensive lineman Ricky Jean-Francois, tweets Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Washington has also re-signed fellow interior defender Ziggy Hood to a two-year deal, the club announced.
Jean-Francois, 30, played in 32 games (eight starts) with the Redskins over the past two seasons. Last year, he saw action on roughly 40% of the club’s defensive snaps, racking up 32 tackles and 1.5 sacks in that span. Jean-Francois was entering the final year of a three-year contract he agreed to prior to the 2014 campaign, and his release will save Washington $3MM in cap space.
Hood, meanwhile, started 14 games for Washington in 2016, but graded out as a bottom-10 interior defender, per Pro Football Focus. The 30-year-old Hood appeared in all 16 contests for the Redskins last year, managing 33 tackles, one sack, and three passes defensed. The former first-round pick was an unrestricted free agent, so he’ll now be signed through the 2018 season.
Washington has revamped its defensive line this offseason, as it agreed to multi-year pacts with outside free agents Stacy McGee and Terrell McClain, and was also loosely linked to Johnathan Hankins and Bennie Logan.
Three Teams Inquired On Kirk Cousins Trade
Three clubs have approached the Redskins about a Kirk Cousins trade within the past two weeks, but all three teams’ inquiries were declined, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. The Browns were not one of the clubs that asked about Cousins despite rumors a Washington/Cleveland Cousins deal could occur.
While Cabot doesn’t identify any of the trio of teams that did call on Cousins’ availability, it’s fair to speculate the 49ers were among the group. San Francisco has been linked to Cousins since the moment Kyle Shanahan was named the club’s next head coach, as the two enjoyed an excellent relationship while Shanahan was the Redskins’ offensive coordinator.
In theory, a team like the Browns or 49ers could roll the dice and trade for Cousins without an agreement for a multi-year deal in place. The two sides would then still have several months to hammer out a contract before the July 15th deadline. If that’s unsuccessful, they would have him for $23.94MM in 2017 with the option of tagging him again for $28MM+ in 2018.
Latest On Kirk Cousins
“There’s a growing belief in some circles” that the Browns will try to acquire Kirk Cousins from the Redskins via trade, one league source tells Mike Florio of PFT. The Redskins have the ability to trade Cousins now that he has signed his one-year franchise tender. 
Depending on who you believe, Cousins either requested a trade last week or simply asked whether he would be getting moved. But, another source tells Florio that Cousins was concerned about the fact that the Redskins can now trade him. Specifically, the source says, he was concerned about being traded to the Browns.
Last month, there was conflicting word on whether Cousins would be open to joining the Browns. One reporter said that Cousins would only want a trade to the 49ers while another said that he finds the Browns to be “intriguing.” Cousins cannot formally block a trade, but he could deter a team from trading for him by refusing to negotiate a long-term deal.
In theory, a team like the Browns could roll the dice and trade for Cousins without an agreement for a multi-year deal in place. Then the two sides would still have several months to hammer out a contract before the July 15th deadline. If that’s unsuccessful, they would have him for $23.94MM in 2o17 with the option of tagging him again for $28MM+ in 2018.
Of course, there’s also the matter of getting a trade done with the Redskins. As Florio writes, an offer of the No. 12 overall pick plus their newly-acquired second round choice from Houston could get it done.
Kirk Cousins Denies Making Trade Request
Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins says that he never asked for a trade, despite rumors claiming he did so last week in a personal appeal to owner Dan Snyder (link via John Keim and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). Instead, Cousins says he simply reached out to the Redskins to find out if they were planning on trading him.
“I laughed and thought, ‘I don’t know where that comes from because that wasn’t the case,’” Cousins said of the report. “Somehow it got twisted..that’s not the approach I took.”
This offseason has been a bizarre one for the Redskins, even by Redskins standards. General manager Scot McCloughan was M.I.A. for several weeks without explanation from the team. Finally, last week, the Redskins fired him with anonymous team officials telling reporters that McCloughan was let go due to ongoing issues with alcohol. At the same time, there have been rumblings that top Redskins decision makers dumped McCloughan out of jealousy and a desire to regain power in the front office. With everything going on, few would have blamed Cousins for requesting a trade.
Now that he has signed his one-year tender, Cousins will play out the 2017 season for roughly $24MM, unless the two sides can agree to a long-term deal between now and July. Based on the way contract talks have gone between the two sides, a new deal doesn’t seem likely to fall into place in the next five months.
Redskins May Have Had Interest In Johnathan Hankins
- At one point, the Redskins may have had interest in free agent defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, tweets ESPN.com’s John Keim. The market has been pretty quiet for the former second-rounder, who we ranked as the second-best free agent interior lineman. The team met with free agent lineman Bennie Logan last week.
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