Washington Redskins Slap Kurt Cousins with Franchise Tag

By Djack

Kurt Cousins, another victim of being hit with dreaded franchise tag. If you're a player this is the last thing you want, especially when you spent the year prior with the franchise tag, like Kurt Cousins did. He must be furious right now, he spent all season showcasing his ability, and the Redskins still aren't sold on him. He has proven he can run this offense to near perfection, putting up all sort of franchise record breaking numbers. Then, the Redskins have the audacity to hit him with another franchise tag, essentially saying, prove you can take us to the playoffs and perform at high level once you get there and then we'll talk about long-term deals. While Cousins should have to do all these things, he can't do it by himself, and if the Redskins defense could've stopped a nose bleed they would've been able to make the playoffs for a second straight year. 

The Redskins still could reach a long-term deal with Cousins before July 15th, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards for the Redskins front office. They either want to keep him with just the franchise tag, a one year-$25 million deal, or they'll give him the long term deal and trade him with the trade being in place before hand, obviously. Either way the Redskins come out the winner as long as they don't get burnt on a trade. What they absolutely couldn't have done is let Cousins walk away and leave the Redskins with nothing. The only person that got screwed here is Cousins. I agree it does suck that he has no certainty for the future, as a player in the ruthless business of the NFL you have to prove your worth each and every year, and every player should know that. It may not be fair, but neither is life, and business is far from fair, so get with it or get lost. However, Cousins could end up making a shit ton of money out of these franchise tags just because the going rate for a quarterback is so high.. It doesn't matter though, Cousins could get injured at any time and he'd have no financial stability. Hard to understand the situation when the player has already made so much money from a fans perspective, although it could also just be viewed as it's the principle. You prove yourself for 2 years and they still don't trust you, it's just a very unhealthy relationship. My guess is it will all end very tragically for both sides like every other unhealthy relationship.