According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, he believes the Redskins are considering placing the franchise tag on QB Kirk Cousins in order to trade him and acquire so assets.
Kirk Cousins might not be so free after all…
Washington is considering placing franchise tag on Cousins to be able to trade him, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/keNB2pGApD
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 4, 2018
This is significant news, especially going into the off-season where Cousins would be the top free agent QB this off-season. Instead of having Cousins walk away and not receive anything in return, Redskins are considering franchise tagging Cousins. This move has its pros and its cons.
The Pros are that the Redskins can receive assets for their QB and not let him walk away for nothing in return. This is also beneficial because the Redskins can trade him away to an AFC team and not have to worry about Cousins coming back to haunt them as often.
The Cons are that Cousins does not have to sign the franchise tag and it will still count towards the Redskins salary cap, a crazy $34.5 million dollars against their cap. Also, Cousins can tell whichever team the Redskins try to trade him to that he will not be signing long-term, hurting the chances of any team giving up a high draft pick or good quality players and Cousins can file for grievance against the Redskins. Lastly, if the Redskins decide to pull the franchise tag to get Cousins contract off its salary cap, the Redskins would lose the right to gain a 2019 compensatory draft pick that it would get if Cousins were able to leave right away as a free agent. So tagging Cousins would undoubtedly carry risk.
In my opinion, if I am the Redskins, I would let Cousins walk, give Cousins the respect he has earned and let him choose his own faith in free agency. By letting him walk the Redskins will gain a compensatory draft pick and as talented as Cousins is he will have a major impact on any team he signs with and that compensatory pick can be worth more than the assets the Redskins will get via a trade.
Click on the next page to see what teams should be calling the Redskins right now for his services.