Redskins Create a PR Disaster by Publicly Insulting Kirk Cousins
July 18, 2017
by Steve Thomas
Let’s get one thing clear right from the start: Bruce Allen’s July 17 televised statement to a media contingent of all of 6 reporters was a shameful and slimy attempt to play the fan base for fools. Mr. Allen wants you to come around to the idea that the Redskins were fair, reasonable, and generous to Kirk Cousins during the contract negotiations, but that greedy Mr. Cousins turned down their offer.
What a bunch of garbage.
The most ironic thing of all regarding this statement is that the words themselves deconstructed Mr. Allen’s own argument and intent – as has been stated elsewhere, $53M in guarantees at signing on a 6 year deal (5 year extension) represents nothing more than the approximately $24M Kirk is already due for 2017 plus the price of the 2018 transition tag. The $72M in total guarantees for injury he mentioned is most likely the proposed 2019 salary, and for this purpose has the value of a wet napkin. It isn’t a particularly generous contract offer by 2017 quarterback standards, yet Mr. Allen wants you to believe that the Redskins tried hard to get this deal done. Allow me to dissuade you of this notion:
The Redskins didn’t try hard.
They inadvertently showed that they didn’t actually want Kirk long-term.
Ken Meringolo over at Hogs Haven said it best: “Bruce Allen and the Redskins get a jump on the season by blaming their quarterback for not signing a below market deal.”[1] Ken’s right: a 5 year extension for $110M (total of 6 years/$133M for a $22M average annual value after this year’s franchise tag) was an offer well below the Andrew Luck and Derek Carr deals, and one that everyone on the entire planet knew or should have known wasn’t going to be sufficient. I showed you two months ago in another column on this site (http://www.thehogsty.com/2017/03/27/kirk-cousins-and-his-coming-king-sized-contract-part-3/) the basic parameters of what a deal had to look like. Yet Mr. Allen would have you believe that the Redskins were being overly generous, ignoring their own responsibility in applying the franchise tag and the effect of the recent Derek Carr deal.
It’s this kind of disingenuous conduct that gives the Redskins a bad name. Mind you, this Cousins contract debacle comes on the heels of the Redskins apparently anonymously smearing the good name of their former general manager in an attempt to justify firing him because his success had started to bother Mr. Allen’s fragile ego. These two events aren’t the hallmark of a well-run franchise.
I realize that some of you blame Cousins for this current state of affairs, and believe that the Redskins’ offer was reasonable. You’re entitled to your opinion, of course, but just know that, objectively, this is what happened:
1) The Redskins inadvertently drove Cousins’ price up on themselves by franchise tagging him for a second year in a row.
2) The Redskins lowballed Cousins with a clearly undermarket offer back in May.
3) Cousins’ team knew their market and didn’t feel the need to respond because the offer the Redskins made was the same money he’d get anyway.
4) The Redskins saw the effect of the Derek Carr deal on the transaction, yet made zero effort to save the deal at the deadline.
5) The Redskins then put out a statement to makes themselves look better and Cousins worse by asking the public to believe a distorted version of the truth.
It’s very important to understand one other thing: both the Redskins and the Cousins team are very aware that his market value (whether you, dear readers, agree or not) is in the neighborhood of the Andrew Luck and Derek Carr deals. The Redskins didn’t make a real effort to get into that neighborhood.
We can have a discussion (civil, please) about just how good Cousins really is, but what seems inarguable is that he is the best quarterback on this team since Mark Rypien left in 1992, and had a chance to become the longest-tenured quarterback since Joe Theisman. I don’t think Kirk is going to end up in the hall of fame someday, but he’s good, he’s noticeably improved, and he’s a great fit for Jay Gruden’s offense. The Redskins have been searching for a franchise quarterback like Kirk for over two decades now, so what do they do when they finally find him? Mismanage the franchise tag, lowball him, publicly insult him, and give him incentive and opportunity to leave after the 2018 season. At this point, the Redskins would be better served by just trading Cousins for what they can get, play Colt McCoy this season, and look to the 2018 draft for their next quarterback.
Yes, yes, Kirk said on Grant and Danny on 106.7 The Fan this week that the statement didn’t bother him, but he’s a classy guy – did you really think he was going to launch into a Richard Sherman-style rant? He was always going to take the high road regardless of how this turned out. That’s who Kirk is. Does it bother me that Kirk’s team didn’t response to the Redskins offer from back in May? Perhaps a bit, but in business, a failure to respond to an obviously low offer is a response in and of itself. Cousins had all of the leverage in this aborted transaction because of (1) the two franchise tags, and (2) the Carr contract. The Redskins should most definitely be faulted for failing to try and save the deal at the deadline by reworking their offer.
It’s a disappointing and shameful end to a saga for which the Redskins have only themselves to blame. So now, we watch the upcoming season and wait for the fireworks to start anew in 2018.
[1] https://www.hogshaven.com/2017/7/18/15987710/bruce-allen-blames-kirk-cousins-for-knowing-his-own-value-redskins-nfl