Kirk Cousins Discussion Thread

[IBall2]

If Cousins does get transition tagged next year, I could see the Vikings being the 'under the radar' team in the running for Cousins. Both Bradford and Bridgewater are only under contract through the 2017 season. They currently have $55 million in cap space for 2018 and the main player they need to sign next offseason is Xavier Rhodes but besides that, they need to get a QB under contract whether its in-house or the draft or FA.

[WhatWouldDitkaDo]

If Cousins does get transition tagged next year, I could see the Vikings being the 'under the radar' team in the running for Cousins. Both Bradford and Bridgewater are only under contract through the 2017 season. They currently have $55 million in cap space for 2018 and the main player they need to sign next offseason is Xavier Rhodes but besides that, they need to get a QB under contract whether its in-house or the draft or FA.

Oooh...I wouldn't like that as a CHI fan, but that would be a pretty savvy move by MIN. At the same time though, I could see MIN rolling with Bradford for longer if he stays healthy. He did well last year considering he had no time to learn the offense and had terrible pass protection.

[osubuckeyeman]

Washington just wanted him cheap and it backfired pretty badly. They want Kirk/Kurt that is clear or maybe it's not though if they didn't want him they could have traded him prior to this implosion and most likely could have received a more than fair market value return. Allen just thought he was the smartest man in the room and I think ego has gotten in the way. There is absolutely no incentive for Cousins to sign with Washington right now. The one caveat is injury though I'm sure he has a major insurance policy covering that angle. All parties need to just agree to ball out this season and move on.

[Cameron Giles]

Washington has over 50M in cap space in 2018, there is no offer they wouldn't be able to match, if they want to.
And you are making an assumption on what Cousins would have signed for in 2016, he wanted 44M guaranteed. He got 44M, so he has done well in his negotiations. I'm just saying Washington has not necessarily done terrible. They paid Cousins what he wanted through Franchise tags and they have zero comitment after this year.

That's not a good thing. If you're going to guarantee $44M to a QB, it should be on a contract with a ton of years to go along with it. Washington has no backup plan for losing Cousins.

[Vcize]

It's amazing how much perception can play in to these things.

Age age 28 Matt Ryan signed a 5-year, $102 million deal with $59m guaranteed. At the time it was the second largest per-year QB contract in NFL history, eclipsed (slightly) only by Aaron Rodgers who the same year signed a 5-year, $110 million deal with $54m guaranteed.

At that time, despite starting for 5 years, Ryan's career high's in QB rating, passing yards, ypa, and completion percentage were worse than what Kirk Cousins has done in 2 years as a starter.

Washington could have had Cousins cheaper, but they wanted another year to make sure that he wasn't a 1-year wonder. Maybe a shrewd move, maybe not, but either way that extra year to make sure he was the real deal comes at a cost, as now everyone else knows he's the real deal too and as such his price has gone up considerably. They're trying to get him at last year's price this year, after he had another great season.

[clarion contrarion]

so now the skins are bush league for mentioning the offer , trying to calm the fan base who could be very restless if they don't think the front office tried to keep a big stat qb . Poor cousins wants to exercise every bit of leverage he has and be beloved by the fans , who does he think he is peyton manning ? Luckily I am not a skins fan that must deal with this type off story all season . I do however, pity whichever team's fan base whose GM wanders aimlessly into this minefield next season .

[Tsunami]

Here in Washington they're calling him "Captain Kirk". If he leaves the fans will be beyond restless.

[grooner]

so now the skins are bush league for mentioning the offer , trying to calm the fan base who could be very restless if they don't think the front office tried to keep a big stat qb . Poor cousins wants to exercise every bit of leverage he has and be beloved by the fans , who does he think he is peyton manning ? Luckily I am not a skins fan that must deal with this type off story all season . I do however, pity whichever team's fan base whose GM wanders aimlessly into this minefield next season .

Sometimes I wish I could get my hands on what ever you are smoking.

Yes it is bush league, it's trying to trick uneducated fans into think cousins is being greedy. They literally offered him a contract that is x number of years for the same money he will be getting the next two years. It makes zero sense for cousins to sign that. Would you sign a contract where they will pay you 200k for the next 6 years, when you are virtually guaranteed to make 200k in the next two years, and can sign a much more lucrative contract in the two coming years?

I wish people would stop painting players as the greedy ones, when it's the billionaire owenrs who are driving up the price of everything

[ericanadian]

so now the skins are bush league for mentioning the offer , trying to calm the fan base who could be very restless if they don't think the front office tried to keep a big stat qb . Poor cousins wants to exercise every bit of leverage he has and be beloved by the fans , who does he think he is peyton manning ? Luckily I am not a skins fan that must deal with this type off story all season . I do however, pity whichever team's fan base whose GM wanders aimlessly into this minefield next season .

With how the contract was quickly picked apart by the media, I doubt it's had any effect in calming the fans. Bush league seems like a fair assessment given how the move has largely blown up in their faces. It's also not like you can look at this in a vaccuum. This is the same team that ousted Shanahan largely because he wanted to move to Cousins when he was struggling with RGIII's attitude issues and Snyder's enabling. The same team that just ousted McCloughan right as free agency began and were likely behind the leaks suggesting the move was due to his alchohol abuse. Even if that's true, it's pretty bush league and there has been nothing substantial come out to show that it was true. Even their ridiculous name (whether you find it offensive or not, it's a joke to suggest it was meant to honor Native Americans), is bush league. The 'Skins are a bush league franchise and this is just one more piece of evidence towards that assessment.

[clarion contrarion]

no you boys seem to miss the point , you know how much tom brady could bank or big ben if they adopted the same attitude as cousins and if they did who could blame them but when a guy with zero play off wins acts like he is johnny unitas it turns my stomach . I guess I will stay on my island alone and you boys can sail away on the pseudostarship with captain kirk. See with pro rata signing bonus included he is making more this year than those two cherry picked HoF guys combined . So if that makes me high for thinking he should shut up and play then I will fire up the good stuff at my leisure .
brady 25 play off wins and 5 frigging super bowls
ben 13 play off wins and 2 super bowls
cousins ZERO play off wins - those guys won super bowls with inferior weapons to what cousins has had the last 2 years while being a stat boy supreme IMHO!
In our current culture people have such a hard time discerning between real and fantasy value and cousins is the primary exhibit in that folly.

[Jason]

Not trying to start an argument but I'm so confused, Ben is on a 4 year $87.4M deal from 2015. You've listed the #2 and #5 Active players in career earnings. Tom Brady's wife is a gazillionaire so his situation is an outlier.

Kurt Cousins played out a 4th round rookie contract and 2 franchise tags. He's made Burger King money compared to those guys.

[Tsunami]

no you boys seem to miss the point , you know how much tom brady could bank or big ben if they adopted the same attitude as cousins and if they did who could blame them but when a guy with zero play off wins acts like he is johnny unitas it turns my stomach . I guess I will stay on my island alone and you boys can sail away on the pseudostarship with captain kirk. See with pro rata signing bonus included he is making more this year than those two cherry picked HoF guys combined . So if that makes me high for thinking he should shut up and play then I will fire up the good stuff at my leisure .
brady 25 play off wins and 5 frigging super bowls
ben 13 play off wins and 2 super bowls
cousins ZERO play off wins - those guys won super bowls with inferior weapons to what cousins has had the last 2 years while being a stat boy supreme IMHO!
In our current culture people have such a hard time discerning between real and fantasy value and cousins is the primary exhibit in that folly.

Johnny Unitas had a career high of 3481 yards, a career 54.6 completion rating, and threw interceptions twice as often as Kirk Cousins. If the Patriots refused to commit to Tom Brady and benched him for Colt McCoy and then offered him a lowball contract he would probably leave.

[Cameron Giles]

no you boys seem to miss the point , you know how much tom brady could bank or big ben if they adopted the same attitude as cousins and if they did who could blame them but when a guy with zero play off wins acts like he is johnny unitas it turns my stomach . I guess I will stay on my island alone and you boys can sail away on the pseudostarship with captain kirk. See with pro rata signing bonus included he is making more this year than those two cherry picked HoF guys combined . So if that makes me high for thinking he should shut up and play then I will fire up the good stuff at my leisure .
brady 25 play off wins and 5 frigging super bowls
ben 13 play off wins and 2 super bowls
cousins ZERO play off wins - those guys won super bowls with inferior weapons to what cousins has had the last 2 years while being a stat boy supreme IMHO!
In our current culture people have such a hard time discerning between real and fantasy value and cousins is the primary exhibit in that folly.

The "no playoff wins" argument is dumb. Yes, QB is the most important individual position, but there's so much going on simultaneously in a football game that a number of things can cost a team.

If you are an above-average QB in the NFL, you will get paid a ton of money. Point blank. It's the toughest position to find talent in the NFL. Matt Stafford has been a starting QB in the NFL for 8 seasons and hasn't won a playoff game. Andy Dalton has started for 6 seasons and hasn't won a playoff game. Derek Carr has started 3 seasons in the NFL and hasn't won a playoff game. Kirk Cousins doesn't need to be Tom Brady, Dan Marino, or Johnny Unitas to justify a respectable guarantee on a long-term contract. Since Cousins took over as the starter in 2015, only Tom Brady has a higher QBR.

[Cameron Giles]

Since 2015 among qualified starting QB's (Cousins' first year as a starter):

2nd in completions
3rd in passing yards
3rd in rushing touchdowns
3rd in completion percentage
3rd in yards per attempt
4th in passer rating
6th in fantasy points
10th in passing touchdowns

Through 10 games this season, Kirk Cousins has a 17/5 TD-INT ratio and is 3rd in the NFL with 2,795 passing yards. He does not have a RB with over 500 rushing yards and he does not have a WR with over 500 receiving yards. Jordan Reed has barely played and the Redskins let Jackson and Garcon walk. Cousins is 3rd in passing yards, 5th in yards per attempt, 7th in passer rating and 8th in TD's.

Yet, Cousins is going off the board as QB13 at only 29 years old. What gives?

[zelldawg26]

I'm not too sure but I know my reason. He was atrocious one fantasy game that he played for me a couple years back where I think he got me negative points. I never looked back lol Glad he's doing better. I will never take that chance again. I think it's the same thing with Dalton. A lot of people just cringe in memory of how bad their QB screwed them once when they played that player. That's my reasoning anyways.