Washington’s best path out of the Kirk Cousins franchise tag corn maze could be to work out a fair trade to the 49ers. Cousins, if he wants to, could force the issue by making it clear that he won’t sign the franchise tender until Labor Day.
But that still may not get it done. Thanks to spite.
Kevin Jones of KNBR reports that Washington owner Daniel Snyder “is holding onto bad blood” between himself and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan. Snyder doesn’t want to help Shanahan succeed, which could keep the owner from ever signing off on any trade.
In the weeks preceding the firing of Mike and Kyle Shanahan at the end of the 2013 season, plenty of leaks unflattering to the front office emerged, with Mike believed to be the ultimate source. Last year, Mike Shanahan went on the record with his concerns regarding Snyder.
None of this changes the fact that getting a fair trade for Cousins may be much better than keeping him for 2017 and then either letting him walk away in 2018 or paying him $28.78 million (under the transition tag) or $34.47 million (under the franchise tag) for one more year. If he walks away next year, he goes straight to San Francisco and Washington simply gets credit toward its compensatory draft pick formula.
But billionaires, as we are learning almost every day, don’t always do the reasonable, sensible, or logical thing. And they tend to hold grudges even more strongly than people with far less money.