The latest Washington Redskins rumors state that while the team would like to keep quarterback Kirk Cousins, there is still some draw to trading him. At the same time, it appears the franchise wants the "will they, won't they" rumors to go away, for a bit at least. To that end, it appears the Redskins are going to either get Cousins traded before the draft, or not at all.
Cousins is a potential franchise quarterback for Washington, but he'd rather be a franchise quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. It appears the relationship between Cousins and the Washington Redskins isn't as bad as some thought and the team truly believes they might be able to get him signed to a long term deal.
If they can't, dealing him before the relationship gets worse could still happen.
The Washington Redskins might want to outrace the draft
As the Washington Post points out, if the team is going to trade Cousins, right before the NFL draft makes the most sense. The day or two before the draft is when teams looking for quarterbacks are more likely to get one from an existing source. If a team like San Francisco doesn't have their quarterback of the present by then, then they might draft their quarterback of the future.
The Redskins would be well suited to deal Cousins before the other teams decide they'd be better off going the rookie route. There are some decent quarterbacks in this class and Cousins was hardly much heralded when he was drafted.
Fluidity is key
The Washington Redskins situation is rather fluid right now when it comes to what they expect from the 2017 season. So far, there have a few moves here and there to add defensive players, but the team has few superstars on the squad right now.
There is also the very real issue of the Washington Redskins not yet having a general manager.
Team president Bruce Allen is likely operating in that spot at the moment but the franchise will eventually have another man at the helm. This becomes really interesting if whoever the team hires decides he wants to go in another direction that where the Redskins are pointed now.