Going to need a pitchfork to eat my take on Kirk Cousins. The skins brass decided he wasn’t worth the asking price and stuck with the franchise tag.  As far as I’m concerned there’s two ways of looking at this:

1. Redskins are pissing off Kirk just to save a few bucks. Kirk will not forget this and look to free agency to get paid.
2. Redskins are trying to motivate Kirk to play better than last year. He played well last year and earned the franchise tag.  It worked last year so why not try it again?

I feel like the answer lies somewhere between the two.  The redskins are technically not saving any money by doing the franchise tag and with reports of them offering him 3 year 13 mil/ year is such a slap in the face to the 20 mil/ year guaranteed he’ll get just for this year.  Is it worth angering your only good (see franchise-record-holding) QB  you’ve had in the last 20 years? I get the argument of “it’s only been one year, I want to see more to make sure he’s not another Nick Foles”. However, ironically they went and paid Josh Norman the most of any other CB in the league when he has only been productive for one year in debatably the NFLs most talented defense. I digress.

The idea of someone in the redskins front office using Kirks contract as a motivating tool is intriging. Yes last year he came out of nowhere to lead the skins to the playoffs when no one was giving us a chance. Yes he came back against Tampa down 24 when their was chirps that he might get benched if they don’t win.  When you look dive into his past, it’s seems like he revels in these “don’t count me out” situations.  Kirk was a two-star recruit who was on his way to Toledo and was only offered a scholarship to MSU because new head coach lost his other commits.  All Kirk did was go out and win the starting job as a redshirt Sophomore and become the only 3 year captain in school history. He was projected as a late 1st, early 2nd round QB and fell to the skins in the 4th round after we drafted RG3.  He comes in when Robert gets hurt against Baltimore off the bench and wins the game on a qb sneak (God I loved that).  Yes 2013 he was bad down the stretch after the season was over and yes Jay Gruden’s first year was rough with the QB carousel.  But Jay Gruden comes in and announces RG3 is the starter after a season where it was clear all 2014 there was a QB battle.  All Kirk does is go out and beat RG3 out in the preseason and lead win the division.  Hopefully this contract negotiation with do noting but motivate Kirk.  Hopefully.

Preseasons final cuts:

Matt Ioannidis DT: The redskins are in the process of trimming the roster to 55 and we’ve already got some shockers. Matt Ioanidis (5th Rounder Pick DT Temple) has been released.  I didn’t necessarily like the pick but I figured it was a need after losing Terrance Knighton and Jason Hatcher.  It appears he’s been beaten out by Anthony Lainer (Un-drafted DT Alabama A&M). It hurts to give up that pick but hopefully he’ll make the practice squad.

Mack Brown RB: The redskins also released Mack Brown (Un-drafted RB Texas) which seems odd after the preseason he had combined with the injuries to the other backs.  Robert Kelly beat him out apparently from his pass blocking. Would keep an on eye on whether the skins pick up another RB.

Josh LeRibeous OG: Josh LeRibeous (3rd Round OG SMU) hits the streets as well. He was a head-scratching pick under the Shanahan regime that never fit into Jay’s system.  Was semi-expected. Arie Kaunjo looks to have solidified his departure this offseason.

Logan Paulsen TE: Sad to see Logan go but after the skins signed Davis and he made that egregious dropped pass last game I can understand why. I Don’t think this is the end of the line for him.  However, now the skins have zero blocking-first (or even decent blocking) tight ends. Don’t expect the running game to be any better this year.

Cullen Jenkins DT: Cullen Jenkins was brought in this week to solidify the line.  He’s 35 and has a long history of playing in the NFC east.  He also dominated the 4th preseason game against Tampa’s backups. However, that wasn’t enough to beat out Anthony Lainer, Ziggy Hood and co.  Weird signing but it must be more of a money thing.

Stephen Paea DT: Stephen Paea was one of McCloughan’s first signings and now he’s gone. The dude just never made plays so it makes plenty of sense to save the money.

Perry Riley ILB: Perry Riley must’ve messed around defensive coordinator  Joe Barry’s wife because he was seen the door before they released the 75 man roster a week ago.  He was great with London Fletcher years ago and even led the team in tackles the year after. But even since Joe Barry came to town his production fell off a cliff. He was beaten out  by Will Compton, Mason Foster, and possibly even Martell Spaight.

No Names Who Made it:

Rashard Ross WR: Ross was on the bubble since the skins drafted Josh Doctson.  Looks like he did enough between special teams and wide out to make the team.

Austin Reiter C: This is good news considering the skins are actively looking for a center to replace Lichtensteiger who they just forced to take a $1.5 mil pay cut.  They took that guy from New England who couldn’t pass a physical and were rumored to have wanted the Ryan Kelly in the first round of this years draft. Reiter (7th round C UCF) spent last year on the practice squad. Feels good to develop one of our own.

Houston Bates OLB: Here’s a preseason all-star who made the team! Probably has to do with the injury to Junior Galette but he’s a hard working OLB who will play some special teams for sure.

Anthony Lainer DT: I don’t know a whole lot about this undrafted FA from Alabama A&M but he beat out a bunch of good defensive tackles.  He’s got the size and length to be a good, space-eater in the interior.  We’ll see how the redskins utilize him.

Desean Everett DB: Everett made some plays this preseason.  He spent last year on the practice squad so once again it’s nice to see some developed talent.

Sam Bradford Trade/ HOW DUMB ARE THE VIKINGS?

Okay so the vikings needed a QB since Bridgewater went down last week but look at what they traded to get one:

So I guess Chip Kelly wasn’t lying when he said someone is willing to give up a 1st round pick for Sam Bradford…

Instant reaction: How stupid are the effin vikings? Skins need to go ahead and send them retarded trades like this 24/7. You realize Sam Bradford was not a very good QB last year and has a history of torn ACLs, right? The only reasonable explanation to this is Teddy Bridgewater’s injury is a lot more severe than people think.  Like he might never get better (see Marcus Lattimore).  Compound that with the fact that Shaun Hill is no spring chicken.  He has his own knee injury history and is 36.  He has no future/ potential and should only be used in emergencies.  Still, all that considered anything higher than a 3rd rounder (just because they’re a playoff team and should have a late round pick) and some cash compensation is not enough for Sam Bradford even in this dire of situation.  Sam Bradford was close to getting beaten out by Chase Daniel AND rookie Carson Wentz. How amazing must the Philly GM feel right now? I mean, what does that make Colt McCoy worth? Two years of 1st round picks? Skins better pick up the phone every time the Vikings come calling. This is up there with Bucs trading their 2nd, 3rd and 4th round pick this year to New England TO DRAFT A FUCKING KICKER THAT CANT MAKE EXTRA POINTS! Come to think of it, McCloughan should pick up the phone when the Bucs call as well.