Kirk Cousins shaping up for massive pay day?

Is Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins shaping up for a massive pay day in 2017? He’s betting on himself to have a big year…

The deadline for NFL teams to re-sign franchise players to long-term contracts passed by on Friday without Washington Redskins QB Kirk Cousins getting a deal. It hardly came as a surprise, as negotiations were pretty much non-existent from the very start.

Cousins is coming off of a banner year in which he somewhat turned around the Redskins franchise, completing almost 70 percent of his passes for 4,166 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.

Cousins’ emergence in 2015 gave life to a franchise that was looking like it might be destined to be picking in the top 10 of the draft for a number of years, and allowed them to completely rid themselves of Robert Griffin III.

Who would have thought back in 2012 that the Redskins would be getting rid of RG3 and paying Cousins $20 million on the franchise tag?

After a player like Brock Osweiler, who started just a handful of games and with mild success for the Denver Broncos, got $18 million per season on a contract from the Houston Texans, the price has to be substantially higher to retain Cousins in the future, especially with the leverage of playing on the guaranteed franchise tag number, which will go up even higher if he is tagged next year.

The Redskins are going to have to find a way to get Cousins signed to a long-term deal, but it’s going to be a significant price to pay, especially if Cousins performs well again in 2016. He showed significant signs of improvement in understanding the game, making smart plays, and also attacking downfield with much better accuracy.

Redskins GM Scot McCloughlan said this in regards to his desire to re-sign Cousins:

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“I would love to do a long-term deal with Kirk, but I’m not going to ruin the organization financially to do it.”

The likely starting point in negotiations for Kirk Cousins is going to be $20 million, and make no mistake about it — some team in the NFL will pay it to him if the Redskins won’t. Does that mean he’s worth it? I personally don’t subscribe to the ‘you’re worth what someone will pay you’ mantra but many do and Cousins is going to get as much guaranteed money as he can.

Andrew Luck just earned $87 million in guaranteed money from the Indianapolis Colts. Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, and Ryan Tannehill each received close to $60 million in guaranteed money when they signed new deals.

My guess is, Cousins is going to look for something in between. If he has another big season, expect him to cash in big time.

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