Washington Redskins’ Kirk Cousins is expected to be the most-sought free agent next season, and interested teams are already salivating over the opportunity of acquiring the prolific quarterback, according to NFL insider Albert Breer of MMQB.
Through the Redskins’ first four games of the season, Cousins had covered 1,004 yards on 80-of-121 with seven touchdowns and one interception. The Redskins only managed a 2-2 record, but things are looking good for the upcoming free agent signal-caller.
Top Dollar waiting for Cousins
In his latest article, Breer noted that both Cousins and New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will have a lot of suitors in free agency next March.
Garoppolo is still valued remarkably high, despite his status as Tom Brady’s understudy the past few years, due to his upside. On the other hand, the hype surrounding Cousins is different. Breer stressed that teams see Cousins as an already capable quarterback who can still raise his game to another level with the right system.
“So a Kirk Cousins or a Jimmy Garoppolo? I think football guys are drooling over that. If a guy like that gets out in free agency? You see what K.C. can do with Alex Smith. Put Cousins on a good squad with a good coach, I don’t know many football guys that’ll say that won’t work,” Breer writes.
Redskins head coach Jay Gruden also agreed with Breer’s line of thinking regarding Cousins as potential alpha-dog of the 2018 free agency class.
“The more tape that Kirk puts on film that he performs well like he has the last couple weeks, the harder it will be to keep him around but I think we'll do the best we can to keep him," Gruden said in a conference call with Bay Area media via ESPN.
The 29-year-old Cousins became the first quarterback in NFL history to receive a franchise tag in consecutive years.
Although the possibility of a third franchise tag is unlikely since the value could cost the Redskins as much as $34 million, team president Bruce Allen isn’t ruling it out.
The Suitors
The San Francisco 49ers, a team in dire need of a franchise-caliber quarterback, are expected to be the frontrunners in the Kir Cousins sweepstakes as the team could meet his asking price, not to mention the quarterback’s working history with former Skins’ offensive coordinator and current 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. The Minnesota Vikings, Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, and Cleveland Browns are just some of potential second-tier suitors for the quarterback, according to ESPN.
