49ers about to get a good look at Cousins, the QB that they covet
Kirk Cousins knows Sunday’s game is a pseudo-audition to become the 49ers’ next franchise quarterback. Or stay as Washington’s. Or, for that matter, go elsewhere he might desire more.
His 2018 fate won’t be known until ... 2018.
“The key is to play football and play well between now and then, so that
when we get to that point, I’ll have options and there will be teams that will be interested,” Cousins said Wednesday on a conference call with Bay Area media.
One of his richest recruiters could be the 49ers, who bring their 0-5 record to Washington (2-2) on Sunday.
Cousins, 29, sounds sold on the 49ers’ “lot of potential and lot of talent” in their rebuild under coach Kyle Shanahan, who was Washington’s offensive coordinator Cousins’ first two seasons there as a 2012 fourthround pick.
“Kyle knows they’re close and the results could be a lot different if a couple plays goes their way,” Cousins said. “When it’s that close and the margin for error is that small, you don’t have a whole lot of reason to be down.
“You have a whole lot of reason to be excited for the future and see there is a lot of potential, those breaks will start to fall your way and good things happen.”
Cousins, like current 49ers QB Brian Hoyer, knows Shanahan’s play-action, movement-oriented system. Cousins, like so many others, testifies how innovative Shanahan is as a play caller, a trait that helped the Atlanta Falcons to last season’s Super Bowl.
Said Cousins: “He doesn’t spin a Rolodex and pull a play out. He designs those plays for a reason. … His results speak for themselves.”
Shanahan, in the only week he can publicly gush about Cousins in a non-tampering way, talked about the quarterback’s poise, consistency and play-making ability.
When Shanahan’s father, Mike, was Washington’s coach and drafted Cousins, the general idea was to develop Cousins — or whatever quarterback they drafted — into a tradeable commodity. Kyle Shanahan noted Wednesday that Russell Wilson was their ideal fourth-round target before Seattle drafted him.
Cousins went 0-3 as Washington’s starter in the 2013 season that ushered out Shanahan and his father, Mike, Washington’s coach. After going 1-4 in 2014 starts, Cousins broke out into a bona fide starter, going 9-7 in 2015, 8-7-1 in 2016 and now 2-2 this season under coach Jay Gruden.
Gruden, not surprisingly, prefers his starting quarterback stays put beyond this season.
“Oh yeah, no doubt about it,” Gruden said on a conference call. “But at the end of the day this is a business. Contracts are what they are, players have agents and the players always have to do what he thinks is best for himself and his family.
“Kirk’s a great guy and we plan on keeping him,” Gruden added. “That is the plan, I think. If he’s a free agent, I’m sure a lot of teams will be coming after him, not just San Francisco. Kirk knows that.”
Cousins’ 107.6 passer rating ranks fourth in the NFL behind Alex Smith, Tom Brady and Drew Brees. Only one of Cousins’ 121 passes have been intercepted, as he’s completed 66.1 percent for 1,004 yards and seven touchdowns.
“The more tape Kirk puts on film that he performs well, like the last couple weeks, the harder it will be to keep him around,” Gruden said.
The 49ers lead the league is salary-cap space ($62.9 million). They could roll over a chunk of that onto 2018 and have close to $100 million for free agency.
Cousins is making close to $24 million this year under the franchise tag, and a third consecutive tag would force Washington to pay him over $34 million in 2018. Negotiations on a long-term deal can not be restarted until the offseason, per league rules.
Similar contract limbo last year has made such talk infrequent this year. “If I do my part, I’ll be in a good position this winter to have hopefully options,” Cousins added. “Until we get there, it’s silly to try to think ahead when there’s so much that will determine where I’ll be sitting at that point.”
• Safety Eric Reid does not believe the NFL can mandate players to stand for the national anthem, as league commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to propose at next week’s owners’ meetings. “As far as I know, that would have to be something that’s collectively bargained,” Reid said. “I’m not sure if they can do that, but I guess we’ll find out soon.”
Reid said he’s had discussions with 49ers CEO Jed York “and he’s expressed very clearly that he wants to support us, that he’s not going to force us to do anything.”
• Reid (knee) and linebacker Reuben Foster (ankle) practiced for the first time since sustaining injuries in Weeks 1 and 2, respectively.