Chris Thompson was one of the players Kirk Cousins texted when Washington traded for Alex Smith. Cousins also mentioned Thompson by name when talking about saying good-bye to the only NFL home he has known for six seasons.
But Thompson admitted Wednesday he isn’t sure whether Cousins wanted to remain in Washington long term, pausing 10 seconds after Chris Cooley asked the question.
“I think everybody got some mixed messages; I will say that,” Thompson said on ESPN’s 980, via the Washington Post. “I know for me, talking to Kirk, being with Kirk, all we talked about was, you know, ‘C.T., with you staying healthy, we can do this with you; we can do that with you,’ and we were able to do a lot of the things that Kirk wanted to do with me. We wanted to continue this, so for me, I expected him to be here. I knew it would be hard given that we want to win, but if you pay a guy [$30 million] a year, it’s going to sacrifice some other things as well, as far as helping our defense out, maybe getting some more receivers, or running backs and all those type of things. It’s kind of hard to say. I think everybody got a different feel about it, but I know Kirk enjoyed being with me, and I enjoyed being with him, so I wanted him to be here and I think part of him wanted to be here, but at the end of the day, you gotta do whatever you think is best for you and your family.”
Thompson became one of Washington’s first offensive players to comment on the team’s blockbuster trade of last week. The running back admitted he was surprised but wished Cousins the best.
“I know Kirk is going to go somewhere and get every single dollar he wants,” Thompson said. “I think he deserves it. He’s put up some great numbers year in and year out, so that’s what this league is all about, the numbers.”