Kirk Cousins has finally signed the franchise tag offered to him by the Washington Redskins worth $23.9 million in guaranteed salary for the 2017 season, as first reported Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Washington QB Kirk Cousins signed his franchise tender this morning. He is now tradeable.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 10, 2017
The Redskins can now trade Cousins if they want to, as it is reportedly likely that he is uninterested in signing a long term deal with Washington next season. Because any team looking to acquire Cousins in a trade will want a guarantee that he is willing to sign a long-term deal with them, Cousins can essentially block any trade he is not interested in.
The $23.9 million will make Cousins the highest paid player in the league in 2017. If the Redskins wanted to sign him to the franchise tag next year – which would be the third year in a row – it would cost the ‘Skins $34.5 million, a number they are almost certainly unwilling to pay.
Considering the report from our senior writer Kevin Jones saying that Washington owner Dan Snyder does not want to trade Cousins to San Francisco because of bad blood after firing Kyle Shanahan as the offensive coordinator in 2013, it would seem the 49ers most likely scenario to acquire Cousins would be in free agency next offseason.
