Kirk Cousins is good.
Is he great, can he lead you to a Super Bowl? That is in the eye of the beholder, but if Blake Bortles and Case Keenum can lead teams to conference championship games, it is hard to imagine that Cousins couldn’t.
With that being said his former GM says buyer beware via Mile High Huddle.
“He’s a good player,” McCloughan told Mike Pritchard and Cecil Lammey. “Is he special? I don’t see special. But also, we were still building a roster around him to make him special. Jay Gruden does a great job play-calling. [Former Redskins offensive coordinator-turned-Los Angeles Rams Coach] Sean McVay did a great job play-calling to put him in positions to be successful. He’s talented. Talent is good at quarterback in the NFL. He’s won games. I know his record overall is not over .500. I know he has not won a playoff game.
You just need to have some talent around him because you don’t want him to be throwing the ball 35 to 40 times to win the game. You want to have a running game, have a good defense, good [special] teams, and then let him do what he does.”
If they tag him for a third time, that’s $34 million for one season. It’s good if you’ve got a guy that you know can win a world championship for you, but it affects the other guys, teammates, because of contracts. You’re investing so much money in one position, you’re going to lose some good players, some good young players, and that, from a GM standpoint, that’s how you have to look at it. You’d love to have him. I’m sure they’d love to have him back for another year. He’s had three solid seasons in a row, but it’s a huge investment, and it’s going to affect the team.”
So, the question begs what do you do if you are the Redskins.
I wouldn’t franchise tag him again, but I’d try to get a long-term deal done because you aren’t going to find a franchise quarterback in free agency.