Remove the Tags and Buy Kirk Cousins

The Kirk Cousins Free Agency Saga has come to a head over the past week.  There is no future scenario too far fetched to be plausible for the Redskins's upstart quarterback who finds himself atop the free agency mountain this season with a host of suitors waiting to see what the Redskins decide to do with him between now and March 1.  The public conjecture about which tag the Redskins will put on Cousins obfuscates the the ultimate decision facing Scot McCloughan as open free agency approaches.  Cousins needs a contract if he is to suit up for the Burgundy and Gold in 2016 or leave for greener pastures. No Transition Tag.  No Franchise Tag.  For Scot McCloughan it is either keep Cousins or don't keep Cousins.  The Transition Tag makes no sense and the Franchise Tag could place the Redskins in a position that would go against the public perception of what McCloughan is trying to build within the locker room.

If McCloughan has any acumen as an NFL GM he has to see that placing the Transition Tag on Kirk Cousins is worthless, reckless, and bad for negotiations.  Placing the transition tag on Cousins merely gives the Redskins the right to match any offer that is given to him by another team in free agency.  If Cousins decides to leave the Redskins get nothing in return.  This renders the Transition Tag worthless to the Redskins's negotiating position because all it would do is reaffirm a limit for Cousins that the Redskins should already have in mind.  It is reckless because, by all accounts, the Transition Tag will carry a minimum one year contract worth roughly $17 million if Cousins stays with the Redskins and cannot get a long term deal.  Some say that this will give the Redskins an idea of what Cousins's actual market value is, but the Redskins should already know what the market value is.  Cousins is the hottest free agent on the market, and McCloughan must know that the Rams, 49ers, and Browns all have over $40 million in cap space and crappy quarterback situations.  Of course these teams would like to get Cousins for less than $17 million per year, but by placing the Transition Tag on Cousins the Redskins will artificially set the market value at a price that they have publicly hinted that they may not want to exceed.  What is another $2-3 million per year to teams that are desperate for a quarterback and have a lot of cap space to burn?  Placing the Transiton Tag on Cousins would be daring teams that drafted Johnny Manziel in the first round, signed Blaine Gabbert as a back up, and gave Nick Foles the keys to the franchise to outbid you for the rights to a proven passer.  I don't think these three teams will be modest with their offers to Kirk Cousins, and if he gets the Transition Tag he is all but gone without any compensation for the Redskins. The Franchise Tag carries compensation if Cousins leaves, but it may leave the Redskins in a purgatory come September if no deal is reached.

Franchising Cousins makes sense on the surface.  It would put a steep price on Cousins that no team is dumb enough to give up, and if they are I will be the first one to say bon voyage to Cousins as he exits Redskins Park.  But let's assume that no team is willing to match the $20 million price tag and give up two first round draft picks to sign him.  Advantage Redskins.  The Franchise tag also gives the Redskins until July 15 to get a long term deal done.  Another plus in the Redskins's favor, but if no deal gets done by July 15, however, it may undo all that the Redskins built last season.  With all the talk about what Cousins's contract will be now, just imagine what the atmosphere will be like throughout next season when after every game Jay Gruden will field questions about how Kirk's performance impacts his future contract.  Kirk can say he will be about playing games if he is Franchised, but that is like dating a porn star and saying that you don't really think about sex all that much.  Everyone will perceive that it is in the back of your mind and constantly ask you about your situation.  Also, how does it look for the Redskins if they have intimated all off season that they do not want to break the bank for Cousins and turn around and pay him $20 million.  And what will happen next season when Cousins has no contract again and they also need to resign Garcon, DeSean Jackson, and Jordan Reed?  The Redskins would not exactly be able to skimp on the contracts of Reed and Cousins at that point, especially if they have comparable seasons to 2015.  There is the possibility of Franchising Cousins and then trading him, but that move would highlight the underlying dangers of not signing Cousins to a contract.

If Cousins is Franchised and traded, or Transition Tagged and allowed to walk, or God forbid allowed to walk outright, the perception will be that the Redskins do not want to pay up.  What message does that send to other quarterbacks around the league?  That they need to at least make the NFC Championship Game by the end of their contract to get paid, and even then the mantra may be that McCloughan will not over pay one position?  That could deter free agents from wanting to sign here, and it may make Washington less attractive for rookies in the future.  And what about the players who have come out in support of Cousins getting paid?  It may not be in Garcon and Baker's best interest to advocate for a big contract for Cousins considering their contracts will be up next year, but they did it anyways.  These guys are leaders on the team who expressed their loyalty to Cousins, and if McCloughan's ideal is to foster a unified locker room with a sense of continuity within the roster he would do well to listen to his players and pay the guy they have pegged as their leader.  

For McCloughan, this could all be formality.  He should already have a decision in his mind because he knows that he has no bargaining position in this matter.  Cousins and his camp hold all the cards, and they probably will not budge from a highly guaranteed 4-5 year contract because they know he can get that elsewhere.  So for McCloughan it is simple.  Remove the tags from your mind and buy on Kirk Cousins.   

A True Game of All-Stars

post by: Mark Sweet


Let’s be honest, no one actually likes all–star games. If anyone watched the Pro Bowl this year you may have noticed the game was one step above playing two-hand touch.  If the NFL would like to make their All-Star game more popular, they may want to take notes from the league with the best All-Star game experience around.  That league would be the NHL.

The NHL spends an entire night showing off the skills of their players in six different competitions. They also understand that this is an event for the fans and let their players have fun. In 2009, Alex Ovechkin decided to put on a pair of sunglasses, a hat, and use two sticks during the breakaway challenge. It wasn’t the prettiest goal, but the fans vote on the winner and they loved his schtick. P.K. Subban followed in Ovi’s footsteps by dressing up like Jaromir Jagr and winning. Players also get to show off their raw talent. Watching Zdeno Chara fire a shot upwards of 108 mph is undeniably impressive, much more impressive than watching a third rate defensive back pull up on every tackle as the receiver fox trots for five yards to the sideline. 

The NHL is also working to make their game as good as it can be. In 2010 the NHL ditched conference teams and started a fantasy draft format (copied by the NFL a few y
ears later). This was fun for a few years but it still suffered from unenthusiastic play on the ice. They realized this and decided that the All–Star game will now be a 4 team 3v3 tournament. This is by far the best decision they could make. The 3v3 format opened the game up for big offensive plays. More than just scoring, guys were back checking, fore checking, and goalies were making saves that could be considered for save of the year. In another stroke of Canadian Capitalist Genius, the winning team was awarded one million dollars. For the first time in forever there was effort in this game. Players were skating hard to not give up an odd-man rush and what could have been a potential game winning goal. It was clear no one wanted to lose. And amidst all of this newly invigorated competitive spirit, the NHL was able to create their own version of WWE style hype and it had nothing to do with dropping the gloves.

Google “John Scott” and read about how the NHL did everything in their power to stop him from playing in the All-Star game. They stopped publicizing fan votes, asked him not to play, traded him to another team, moved him to the minor league, and did not choose him to be voted on as MVP of the game. And after all of the disrespect he received from the NHL, he scored two goals, “fought” Patrick Kane, captained the Pacific team to a victory, and won as a write in candidate for MVP. He was the Stone Cold Steve Austin to the NHL's Vince McMahon, and ultimately a breath of fresh air for what can be a very boring product.

But what makes the NHL All-Star game truly special is that there isn’t one every four years. The all-star game is ditched for the Winter Olympics. The NHL is filled with players from the USA, Canada, and Europe. I’ve never seen so many people care about hockey than I did in 2010 when USA lost to Canada in the finals. T.J. Oshie became a household name for a few days in 2012.

Hockey isn’t everyone’s favorite sport, but most people have never been to an NHL game. Everyone owes it to themselves to see just how fast the game is in person. This will give you a new found respect for what the game is and will let you appreciate just how much fun the All-Star game can be.