Washington seemed legitimately torn over what to do with quarterback Kirk Cousins.
But in the NFL, you’ve either got a quarterback you trust or you’re looking for one, and the team didn’t want to look again.
Per multiple reports, they’ve used the non-exclusive franchise tag on Cousins, committing $19.953 million to a guy who was good for half a season.
The quarterback market is such the Cousins would have been a hot commodity, so regardless their reservations, they couldn’t let Cousins reach it.
They can still work on a long-term deal prior to July 15, but it might be hard to establish his value now that he’s already guaranteed nearly $20 million for a single season establishing what he’ll think is the floor.