Who Would We Replace Him With?
Here is the list of winners who will be free agents with Cousins this offseason. The problem for the Redskins is Cousins has played well enough to out pace all of these guys on that list. If the Redskins let Cousins test the open market he will be the best free agent out there, and you have to assume that teams like the Texans, Jets, Bills, Browns, Broncos, Eagles, and maybe the Rams will put in competitive offers for Cousins's services. With so many teams in need of a quarterback, and Cousins being 27 and at the top of the free agent list, it is not unlikely that he decides to go where the money is good because this may be his only shot at a big payday.
Another alternative is the draft, but that road is fraught with even more uncertainty. The top quarterbacks in the Draft this year are Christian Hackenberg who sucks (I don't care how good he was his freshman year and the "James Franklin's offense ruined his development" argument. If we let Cousins go for this guy I will be livid), Cardale Jones (read the passage beginning "Said one AFC GM" below the picture of Jones and read the quote from Phil Savage below the picture of Jamarcus Russell), and Connor Cook who may be better but it may also take him time to acclimate to the offense. The other caveat to these quarterbacks is Cousins may play so well that the Redskins are out of position to draft these guys even if they wanted to. This list of alternative quarterbacks to Cousins should have Scot McCloughan holding a reverse telethon where he has all the people in the background calling Cousins's agent nonstop. There are no clear alternatives that are better than Cousins at the moment, and Cousins will be the most sought after free agent quarterback in the offseason. And for good reason because he has shown improvement over this season.
Cousins's Game Has Evolved Over the Course of the Season
Cousins's stats for the first 6 games of the season (record 2-4):
66.2% completion 1420 yards (237 y/g) 6 TD 8 INT
Cousins's stats the last 3 games:
71.4% completion 858 yards (286 y/g) 8 TD 1 INT
Small sample size for the last three, but suffice to say that Cousins has improved immensely over the last three games. We will know more when Cousins has to go into Carolina and then come back to DC to face the Giants over Thanksgiving weekend, but there has been improvement over this season to warrant keeping Cousins here.
Cousins Is the Leader
This is more of an arbitrary qualitative measure but look at what Cousins has done this season. He has led two dramatic game winning drives, one game tying drive with 50 seconds left, he coined one super charged catch phrase, he would have kept pace with the Patriots if not for a parade of ineptitude, and he hung 47 points on a Saints team that pumped up the defense so much that it led to this exchange at the end of the game. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, and in this case Chris Baker's action said more than his words. It shows that the defense is on board with Cousins. Winning helps that notion take hold, but over the last three games you have seen a concerted effort from the defense to give Kirk every chance to move the ball because he has proven that he has the ability to win games. Cousins also boasts the fourth highest completion percentage in the league which keep his receivers happy and the offense on the field. And when he is out there, especially the last three games, you just get this sense that he has command over this offense. He has cut down on the turnovers, he rarely takes sacks (only Andy Dalton, Derek Carr, and Ryan Fitzpatrick have played 9 or more games and been sacked less than Cousins), his accuracy has gone through the roof when teams know that his game is short to intermediate, and he has developed a passing report with numerous receivers. You just get the sense that something good is going to happen on every offensive possession, and that is not something we have felt in a while.
At this moment the price tag should be about a three to four year contract worth about 5-7 million per year. If Cousins's agent is smart he will start a bidding war with the team, using his free agent status as leverage, and the contract may get extended longer and for more money. My guess is that if the Redskins keep winning you could see a four to five year contract worth 10 million plus. Well worth it for a fourth round pariah who was seen as a coach's hubris pick. Now, Kirk Cousins is poised to lead the Redskins on a Divisional Championship run that could make him the hottest free agent this summer if the Redskins do not play their cards right. Let's do the right thing and Keep KC in DC.
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