Things changed considerably for Kirk Cousins this week, but he doesn’t think his market has.
The Washington quarterback will hit free agency after his team traded for Alex Smith, but Cousins disagrees with anyone who think he’s worth less on the open market now.
“I don’t think so,” he said in a video interview with USA Today, via NJ.com. “It shouldn’t. I think the tape is what you go off of. If you’re not going off the tape, I really wouldn’t want to be there anyway. I want to go to a team that’s going to evaluate the tape, watch the film, know football, and make those decisions based off that.”
Cousins had worked the last two years under the franchise tag, and they struggled to try to find a long-term solution. So Washington opted to trade a third-round pick and cornerback Kendall Fuller for the right to lock Smith in for the next four years, giving them some cost-certainty.
It also turns Cousins into a market full of suiters which could include the Jets and Broncos and others.
“Each year, I’ve gotten better as a player, and I think that bodes well for the future, because I’m only going into year seven,” Cousins said. “I expect to continue to improve. I’m excited about what the future holds. . . .
“It’s just about winning. It doesn’t matter where you live, the other variables. If you’re not winning, the rest doesn’t matter. Ultimately, it will be: Can we win? That’ll be the No. 1 factor.”
Cousins said he was working out in his hotel in Minneapolis when he got the news, and called his impending free agency an “exciting process.”
It already has been.