Former 49ers and Redskins GM Scot McCloughan broke his silence on Tuesday, two months after being fired by Washington executive Bruce Allen and owner Dan Snyder.
Speaking on 106.7 The Fan in D.C., McCloughan took the high road. He complimented the organization, had no regrets and wished Redskins fans well.
But McCloughan did levy an interesting comment on Kirk Cousins and the contractual process the Redskins went through with his agent these past couple of years.
“[Cousins is] going to make a lot of money this year and he’s earned it for what he’s done the last two years. It’s a big business,” McCloughan said. “The agent’s got to be understandable that they’re involved in it too. It’s not just us and the player, the agent has to be able to understand, well okay, ‘I can make this, if you don’t tender him, I can make this for the next five years for him.’ It just didn’t work out.”
Currently, Cousins is expected to play the 2017 season under a $23.9 million franchise tag. The Redskins are holding out hope they can sign him to a long term price tag they are comfortable with. Given the chaos within the organization and the leverage Cousins would have on an open market in 2018, there’s a slim chance Cousins signs a long term deal at any point in 2017.
Why does this relate to the 49ers? It was reported by the Washington Post that the Redskins and Cousins’ agent, Mike McCartney, have had several falling outs during negotiations. McCartney knows the 49ers have the most cap room in the entire league. What is preventing him from asking for the $87 million in guaranteed money Andrew Luck received? Or at a bare minimum, the $65 million Eli Manning and Philip Rivers are earning on their new contracts?
Cousins to the 49ers still seems like the most logical destination, but John Lynch, Kyle Shanahan and lead negotiator Paraag Marathe won’t be bullied in the process. Shanahan drafted C.J. Beathard in the third round because he liked the player. But don’t fool yourselves: The 49ers need a backup plan in case Cousins isn’t signed, sealed and delivered next March in Santa Clara. This is not a 100 percent done deal. McCartney is a tough cookie to deal with in a board room.
This leaves San Francisco in the awkward position of rooting for their future quarterback to have sort of a down season in 2017. If Cousins regresses a bit this season, his price tag will theoretically go down. If he plays the best football of his career and leads Washington to its first postseason victory since 2005, Redskins fans will march in the streets until the team re-signs their quarterback. Or McCartney can try and swindle Marathe like the executive did the Chicago Bears during the draft.
Then again, if you are about to commit money to a franchise quarterback, don’t you want Cousins to be playing well? If he regresses in 2017, what if he’s hit his ceiling as an NFL player? Then the new regime will have just spent a fortune on a player who won’t help them win a Super Bowl. Quite the sticky situation.
The point of the 49ers saving and finagling all this salary cap money throughout the years is to get a quarterback like Cousins. If Shanahan believes he can turn the soon-to-be 29-year-old into Matt Ryan, you give Cousins all the money he wants and you never look back. Shanahan originally drafted Cousins in 2012, but outside of a few spot starts early in his career, the two have yet to see the fruits of their relationship blossom. Seems like Cousins wants to know what type of player he’d be as the featured quarterback in Shanahan’s offense.
“Oh, I’ve always been a big fan of Kyle’s,” Cousins told Gary and Larry at the Super Bowl. “I’ve always spoken very highly of him from the day I was picked. And he called me right after the draft and just preached belief in me and encouragement and has coached me hard in all my years playing for him. I loved his system right away and saw it successfully run with Robert Griffin, I’ve now seen it successfully run with Matt Ryan. And I just believe Kyle adapts his scheme to the players he has.
“He’s just an offensive genius. He understands Xs and Os very well. He watches film, he just doesn’t read press clippings or make decisions based on hype. He watches the tape and his decisions over time have proven to be right. I’m a big fan of his. I always will be. Even though he’s been on other teams I’ve always rooted for him and wanted to see him succeed.”
There is some positive news if you trust McCloughan as a talent elevator — the Redskins finished above .500 in consecutive seasons for the first time in 25 years. He reportedly performed some freelance scouting analysis for several NFL teams, and was extremely high on Beathard, even comparing him to Matt Hasselbeck. The 49ers might already have a cheaper version of Cousins on the roster.
In past interviews, McCloughan was quoted as saying you don’t overpay for quarterbacks because then the rest of your roster starts deteriorating. The Ravens have gone through some of that after paying Joe Flacco and they’ve yet to make another deep run in the playoffs since beating the 49ers in the Super Bowl. The Redskins put themselves in this situation by letting Cousins continually bet on himself, and he won on the roulette table.
With that said, the former GM also thinks the Redskins should bite the bullet and figure this thing out. Cousins is worth the money.
“I hope they do get a long-term deal done because I’m telling you he’s high character, he’s a good football player, he’s smart, he’s a good teammate, he’s got leadership qualities,” McCloughan said. “I’ve been around Brett Favres, I’ve been around Russell Wilsons, I’ve been around Matt Hasselbecks. Those are the characteristics that stand out, because you know he’s got talent. He’s got arm talent and you know he can move around and make plays with his feet.”
We have 10 more months of this. I know it’s a little early to be pondering about Kirk Cousins, but he really could end up becoming the most important decision Lynch and Shanahan ever make in San Francisco. Dealing with his agent is going to be anything but an easy task.