Redskins reportedly need to be 'blown away' by RG3-like offer to trade Cousins

Washington probably isn't going to get that sort of value on the market

The Washington Redskins officially placed the franchise tag on their quarterback for the second year in a row, hitting Kirk Cousins with a fully guaranteed one-year deal for $24 million (or more), continuing to put themselves in a weird leverage spot with the quarterback.

There is probably only one spot for Washington to send Cousins if it wants to figure out a trade option, with the 49ers being the only guaranteed spot where Cousins would sign a long-term deal. 

And it’s looking a lot like that potential deal won’t happen. Washington is starting to position itself as a team interested in holding onto Cousins and a team demanding a lot in return for the quarterback.

But that doesn’t mean a deal can’t happen. Washington needs to, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, be “blown away” in a potential deal to pull the trigger. 

So what will it take? One source with knowledge of the dynamics suggested that Washington will need to be “blown away,” and that team president Bruce Allen will specifically be thinking of what the team gave up five years ago to get quarterback Robert Griffin III.

The first part of the sentence is pretty logical, because Washington isn’t going to give Cousins away to someone for 50 cents on the dollar just because they put themselves in a horrifically leveraged position. 

But the second part? Needing a Robert Griffin III-level deal to move Cousins? That’s bananas. Ignoring the fact that deal was a loser for every single person involved (except Cousins!), it’s important to remember just how much Washington gave up for Griffin. Washington handed out three first-round picks and one second-round pick in exchange for the No. 2 overall selection in the 2012 NFL Draft, which was used to take Griffin. They would take Cousins later in the draft and, despite winning a division title with Griffin as a rookie, the trade would vaporize the depth on their roster and send the franchise spiraling back into mediocrity. 

Washington did a remarkable job of getting stuck in another difficult-to-imagine scenario involving a franchise quarterback here. Cousins was never an easy contract to pull off because of the timing surrounding his ascension to starting quarterback. But before 2016, they could have given him a five-year deal with $50 million guaranteed in the first three years and been in a much better position than they are right now. It wouldn’t have required take that much foresight to predict that outcome, either. 

Now they’re forced into potentially paying Cousins $44 million for his services in 2016 and 2017 then watching him walk out the door. They might be better served not demanding such an expensive haul in return.