S.F. set to face Cousins — will he join team in ’18?
Before he fielded his first question on a conference call with the Bay Area media Wednesday morning, Washington’s relentlessly polite starting quarterback said hello.
“Hi, this is Kirk Cousins,” he said. “I’m ready to do my question-and-answer.”
Of course, some 49ers fans hope Cousins, 29, will be introducing himself to the entire Bay Area after the 2017 season. As has been noted endlessly since the 49ers hired their head coach, Cousins and Kyle Shanahan have a relationship, Cousins has a strong resume and the 49ers have a desperate need for a quarterback.
Their yawning hole at the NFL’s most important position has been painfully evident as they have gone 0-5. They’ve lost four straight games by three points or fewer. Brian Hoyer ranks 29th in the NFL in passer rating (75.8). Cousins ranks fourth (107.6) entering Sunday’s meeting against the 49ers.
Given that backdrop, Cousins predictably was peppered with questions about his uncertain future by Bay Area reporters. He noted those questions had died down locally, but politely added: “I’m fine talking about it again.”
Cousins is playing on a oneyear, franchise tag of $23.9 million. Washington, which has $4.7 million in salary-cap space, could franchise him for the third straight season in 2018 for about $34 million.
The 49ers have an NFL-high $62.9 million in cap space, and a head coach who lobbied to take Cousins with a fourth-round pick in 2012 after Washington used the No. 2 pick on Robert Griffin III. On Wednesday, Shanahan did say Washington’s first QB target in the fourth round was Russell Wilson, who was selected a round earlier by the Seahawks.
After having Shanahan as his offensive coordinator for his first two seasons, Cousins was asked if the thought of rejoining forces in 2018 was intriguing.
“There’s just so much to do between now and then,” he said. “This league is so challenging. It’s about right now. And it’s about doing all I can right now to hopefully be in a position to where Washington won’t let me leave, or doesn’t want to leave because I’ve done my job. So that’s where my focus lies. We’ll see how it all shakes out.”
Washington hasn’t made a competitive long-term offer to Cousins, who has 61 touchdowns and 24 interceptions since 2015. He has had back-toback 4,000-yard seasons and owns the second-highest career completion percentage (65.9) among active players.
Cousins suggested that, ideally, he can join peers such as Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning and spend his career with one team. Cousins has been with head coach Jay Gruden since 2014.
“So there’s a familiarity there that’s really important,” Cousins said. “I think in this league, continuity helps lead to success. When you look at quarterbacks around the league, the ones that have been really good year in and year out, it’s because they’ve been with the same team, or been with the same coaching staff. And they’ve been able to have that continuity. So that’s a real positive for me here in Washington.”
However, Washington could find the franchise tag, or Cousins’ asking price on a long-term deal, prohibitively expensive. Cousins could seek to eclipse the five-year, $135 million contract signed by Detroit’s Matthew Stafford in August that made him the highest-paid player in NFL history.
Gruden acknowledged he wants to retain Cousins, but also noted the financial complications.
“At the end of the day, this is a business,” Gruden said. “Contracts are what they are. Players have agents. And (a player is) always going to do what he thinks is best for himself and the family. Kirk’s a great guy. And we intend on keeping him. That is the plan, I would think.
“But I’m sure it’s not just San Francisco. If he was a free agent, I’m sure there’s a lot of teams that would be coming after him . ... The more tape that Kirk puts on film where he performs well, like he has the past couple of weeks, the harder it will be to keep him around. I think we’ll do the best we can to keep him.”
By virtue of their final record, the 49ers could put themselves in position to draft a college quarterback with a premium pick in what is expected to be a strong year for the position. And they’ll also have salary-cap room to make a run at Cousins or, perhaps, New England’s Jimmy Garoppolo, who is in the final year of his contract.
Shanahan clearly doesn’t have his starting quarterback for 2018, but he said the ability to get such players was part of what made the 49ers’ job attractive.
“I knew we were going to have to add some resources,” Shanahan said. “What made this such an enticing spot is we had the ability to do that from a salary-cap standpoint and draft picks. So it was exciting.”