Should Washington Trade Kirk Cousins?

With the NFL off-season fast approaching, there is a lot of buzz to keep around the league  that could make this off-season really interesting; one of those story is the drama between the Washington Redskins and their franchise quarterback Kirk Cousins.  Since last off-season, Cousins has been asking to get a new contract the problem with that is the team and Cousins can not agree on a deal. Over the past few weeks, people have been speculating if the team would trade him, with the possibility becoming larger as each day goes buy. The question now is should the team trade Cousins?

Drafted in the 4th round of the 2012 draft, Cousins was drafted to be the long-term backup for Robert Griffin III who they drafted in the same draft  with the second pick of the 2012 draft which at the time seemed like a smart move having a young insurance policy for a player such as Griffin. Despite being the backup in his first three seasons, he still got a decent amount of playing time (Griffin was injury prone during his Washington tenure). In 2014 a report came out that he would be open to being traded from the team for a starting role.

The 2015 preseason was his got his big chance to compete for the starting quarterback job. During a 2015 preseason game against the Detroit Lions, Griffin suffered a concussion and had too be taken out of the game, in which Cousins capitalized on the opportunity and ran with it. He’d be Washington’s starting QB for the 2015 season.

In 16 starts, he threw for 4,166 yards with an impressive 29 touchdowns to 11 interceptions with a passer rating of 101.6. In his first season as the starter, Cousins proved that he has the potential to be the franchise quarterback that the team has been lacking ever since Jason Campbell left the team. Cousins  led the team to the playoffs winning the NFC East. The team finished that season with a 9-7 record.

After leading the team to the playoffs, everyone was wondering if he could have the same production in the 2016 season and Cousins did not disappoint.  In 16 starts, he threw for 4,917 yards, 25 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and a 97.6 passer rating.

Even though he threw fewer touchdowns, Cousins improved in his second season as a full-time starter. The team finished third in the NFC East going 8-7-1, failing to make the playoffs.

In the five seasons in the league, Cousins proved that he can be a solid quarterback in this league. He has a great arm, he can make plays in the pocket, and if needed he can make plays with his feet as well scrambling for a good few yards on the run.  Cousins is an upcoming free agent this off-season, and since last season he been asking to get a new contract but the team just franchised tagged him for a one year deal. He has made it clear that he does not want to get franchised tagged and wants to get a multi-year extension so he can stay in Washington long term.

There are two sides of this story on the Cousins side, with the way that he has been playing the past two seasons there is no way that he does not deserve to get locked up long term. The only thing that is standing in his way of getting a new deal is how much does he want? It all depends on his asking price, he is heading into his 30’s soon so he should want to get the most money he can get right now and not wait. Cousins is reportedly not going to sign a new deal before the franchise tag deadline On the Redskins side of things, the team is playing the waiting game with Cousins when it comes to a new contract which could at the end of the day be a really bad thing. Multiple reports that are  are saying that the team does not think he is worth the money he is asking for.

The Redskins should do the smart thing and just lock him up right now as long as he does not want over $100 million and between $50 million and $70 million . There are not a lot of franchise quarterbacks out there right now, and the team cannot afford to lose him right now.

At the end of the day, the Redskins should not trade Cousins. Hee is too valuable to the franchise right now and he means a lot to the locker room. If the team does trade him, there are not going to be a lot of options to replace him with the quarterbacks in the draft.

Look at a team like the San Francisco 49ers to be calling the Redskins about Cousins and try to make a move for the quarterback. The 49ers are going through a culture change right now, and Cousins would be a good quarterback to lead the team to the future if the Redskins goes the route of trading him.

Photo Credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

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