Kirk Cousins defied many of his doubters and became a viable NFL starting quarterback in 2015. Now, the 27-year-old signal-caller is about to get paid like it.
According to Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan, the Washington Redskins used the non-exclusive franchise tag on Cousins. Brian McNally of 106.7 The Fan confirmed the report.
Washington will hope Cousins is the franchise QB the team has lacked since arguably the days of Mark Rypien. It looked as though Robert Griffin III might assume that role, but between his injuries and Cousins' improvement, that is no longer the case.
Speaking after Washington's Wild Card Round exit, Cousins gave every indication he wanted to stay in the nation's capital, per CBS Sports' Will Brinson:
I feel good about where this organization is headed and the nucleus of guys that we have. It's year-to-year, so we will see where we are at going into next year. ... I think I want to be where I am wanted. You want to be with people who believe in you and we are going to find out, because we haven't discussed it yet, how much I am wanted and where that'll go. But I'm sure you know it's a business and the team is going to operate with that mindset and this is my first time going through that process in the NFL. It's new to me, I don't know a whole lot about it, so we'll see how it goes.
At the Senior Bowl in January, Redskins general manager Scot McCloughan admitted the franchise tag was "an option" but added a long-term deal was the ultimate goal, per Andrew Walker of the team's official website: "I want him to be part of the Redskins. You'd rather get a long term deal done, but we have a lot of options we're dealing with right now and that's one of them."
Adam Klug of the Doug Gottlieb Show knew one way or the other Cousins was bound to see a massive increase on his $660,000 base salary in 2015:
As if any more evidence was necessary, this all but signals the end of Griffin in the nation's capital. The former Heisman Trophy winner is due $16.2 million in 2016 after the team exercised his option, and there's little chance Washington will pay him that much to be Cousins' backup for a second consecutive season.
Instead, the Redskins are hitching their wagons to Cousins, and given his play in 2015, he deserves at least another year to lead the team's offense.
Cousins performed well above expectations in 2015, throwing for 4,166 yards, 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His 69.8 percent completion rate was also the highest in the NFL.
Still, questions remain as to whether he can truly be a successful starting quarterback in the NFL. His career touchdown-to-interception ratio (47-30) leaves a little to be desired, and he benefited to a certain extent from Washington's soft schedule. Not only did the Redskins play in one of the weakest divisions in the league, they also faced off with every team from the NFC South, which lacked much quality beyond the Carolina Panthers.
Win-loss records aren't a great standard by which to hold players. At the same, this stat from Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson sums up the skepticism around Cousins:
At times, Cousins is discussed as a young quarterback despite the fact he'll turn 28 in August. That makes him older than Griffin and Blaine Gabbert and the same age as Matthew Stafford, none of whom is often characterized as a "young quarterback" deserving of more time to develop under center.
Some of Cousins' supporters will point to Aaron Rodgers as an example of a quarterback who blossomed somewhat late into his NFL career. However, Rodgers was already a Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion by the time his age-28 season (2011) rolled around.
Cousins more than earned a massive pay increase in 2016, but it's tough to determine what that value truly is. The Baltimore Ravens paid Joe Flacco at the peak of his value, and they've paid for it ever since.
In that respect, using the franchise tag on Cousins might be the best result for Washington. It has more time to determine whether he deserves to be paid like one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
If Cousins regresses next year, the Redskins are only overpaying for him for one season, after which they could re-sign him to more reasonable terms or let him walk completely.
Should he continue to improve in 2016, Washington will have a much easier time throwing a massive extension his way a year from now.