Happy Super Bowl week/ let’s stir up some controversy week! Here was a scenario that was brought up by 106.7 the Fan that really grinds my gears. These radio DJs actually spent a whole afternoon debating if you were in Scot McCloughans shoes whether or not do this trade: Kirk Cousins for San Francisco’s 1st Round Pick this year (#2 Overall) and their 1st Round Pick in 2018.  This trade proposal is a reaction to Kyle Shanahan being name the head coach of the 49ers last week.  Since people hotly debated this all day I figured I would weigh in on why this is a terrible idea.

Continuity: Here’s a fun stat that compares what Cousins did in his 1st two years of starting vs Aaron Rodgers:

Not trying to say Cousins is Aaron Rodgers but hey stats don’t lie. Our offense was #3 in the league in 2016. #1 and #2 are playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Continuity at the QB position is the most important part of keeping a top 3 offense next year.  Who would start next year if you trade away Kirk? Colt McCoy? Nate Sudfeld? One of the mediocre rookies coming out in the draft this year or a free agent like Ryan Fitzpatrick?  All of those choices are a step back and with Gruden in his last year of his contract, even the slightest step back could cost him his job.  Then what? (See Rebuild Mode)

Busts: Shocker, but not all 1st round draft picks pan out.  Just ask the Rams who have gotten nothing but worse after we traded them our future for RG3 (1st round swap in 2012 and 2 more 1st rounders!). For example, lets focus on this years consensus #2 overall player on most all of mock drafts right now, Alabama DT Jonathan Allen (Stone Bridge High School-VA product weirdly enough).  He sure seems like the real deal right now but that whole Alabama defense was loaded with talent. Not to mention he was a non-factor in the National Championship, especially on that final, game-losing drive.  He could easily be a product of stacked defense with a lackluster schedule.  It’s exciting to consider the thought of getting Allen at #2 and DE Soloman Thomas or ILB Reuben Foster at #17 but they will need time to develop.  Even so, these two pieces are not going to be enough to fix this crappy defense no matter how dominant they are.

Best Case Scenario: Let’s say Allen is a stud impact player and whoever we get at #17 turns is a stud as well.  Let’s say Cousins falls apart in San Fran and we end up getting the 1st overall pick next in 2018.  Whoopie! You did it! You predicted Cousins was a two-year fluke! You are able to fill some defensive holes in free agency with all the money you saved on Cousins.  Your defense does a full 180 and your defensive coordinator, who has been fired 3 times from his prior DC jobs, is now being considered as head coach material. Now, you are relying on 30 year old Colt McCoy to pick up the slack and keep this offense top flight with no run game and potentially fewer weapons at WR. Also, consider the fact that McCoy is a FA in 2019. So after two years of McCoy, you’re back to the same dilemma you have now. You would either need to sign McCoy to starting QB money or you would need to spend a high round pick on a QB in 2018, most likely one of picks you traded Cousins.  Otherwise, it’s back to picking up free agent QBs.  Welcome back to the QB carousel redskins fans. Consider this: over the last 15 years, only two free agent QBs won a Super Bowl and one is a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Worst Case Scenario: McCoy plays like he did on the Browns. Your running game continues to get worse now that you don’t have a decent passer.  Your defense, even though it’s full of high round picks, struggles under a new defensive coordinator and isn’t good enough to stop the offenses within the division. The division becomes a 3 way tie with Wentz leading the Eagles resurgence, Prescott getting better in the pocket, and the Giants defense becoming a top 5 unit. Cousins lights it up with the 49ers and you’re 2018 1st round pick is in the high 20s. Back to rebuilding from the ground up. Only good news here is the you have a top 5 pick to spend on a new QB and plenty of space to overpay free agents.

Bottom Line: Even the staunchest Cousins detractor knows McCoy is not the future. Most detractors think that the QB of the future is not on this roster and to get more picks now would help build a team that will be able to cultivate a superstar QB down the road.  I’ll admit, the thought of building a young, hungry defense with the picks is very tempting.  However, lets be real. If one (or both) of those picks don’t pan out, you just gave away you franchise holding passer up for close to nothing.  You’re then stuck starting Colt McCoy or someone else’s trash at the most important position on the field for the next two years. Gruden is gone, the the offense is revamped, and the young defense gets a brand new system it has to learn.  Also, it’s hard to imagine the 49ers tanking as hard as they did last year with Cousins under center. Cousins is very familiar with Shanahans offense and with a running back like Carlos Hyde helping to punch it in goal-to-go situations and a healthy defense, it’s unlikely the 49ers season goes the way it did this year.

Bottom Line #2: I wouldn’t trade Cousins for the 49ers next 5 years of 1st round picks. We haven’t had a QB like this EVER. Jump on the Cousins bandwagon. It feels good.

Jabrill Peppers, Safety, Michigan. Peppers is a 6’1″, 205 lb, 21 year-old redshirt sophomore who finished 5th in the Heisman voting and was an unanimous 1st team All-American last year.  He was awarded the Paul Hornung Award, College Footballs Most Versatile Player, as well as the Lott Trophy, Defensive IMPACT (Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity) Player of the Year. He finished 2016 with 73 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, four sacks, and one interception. He also had one TD from his kick returns, averaged 15 yards per attempt on punt returns, and 3 TDs from playing on offense.

Take: Just going to this start off with the fact that when I google search “Jabrill Peppers”, two of the top related searches are “body” and “jacked”….

Peppers is a freak of nature athlete. He played 15 different positions on the field and played them well.  He lined up as a middle linebacker almost more times than safety in the game film I watched. Michigan would line him up at DE half the time and let him rush the passer and hell, he excelled at that too.  He plays every play with such a high motor and is constantly around the ball.  He’s a hard hitter who takes good angles. His acceleration off the snap is fantastic which helps him in pass rush. He sheds blockers well but could improve here. He can go man to man on any TE, RB, or slot receiver. He has the speed and agility to take any kick to the house too. Overall, this guy is a play maker. He plays with great instincts very similar to Tyrann Matheiu.

So why would someone so talented fall to #17? Well, scouts are starting to nit-pick his game saying he doesn’t have a “true position” and was part of a scheme in Michigan. He’s a little undersized at 6’1″ 205 and played in a Big Ten Conference that had a rough few years. His stats don’t jump out at you, either.  Only having 1 pick and 1 pass defended in 2016 is hurting his draft stock tremendously. Scouts are beginning to think of him more as a undersized LB than a hard-hitting safety making him the “wildcard” of the 1st round.  Also, he didn’t have the best game against OSU in their rivalry game which felt like a playoff game.

I don’t know what more I can say other than this guy would look glorious in the burgandy and gold. He has those Polamalu-like instincts that every safety/ defensive player needs to excel and the athletic skill set to be superstar. If he falls to #17, I think he would be the ideal piece to start rebuilding the defense. It will be interesting to see how he performs at the combine and see how hungry he is in the interview process. Scot McCloughan loves “football players” and I don’t think anyone else that mold better than Peppers.

Mid Round Talents to Consider:

Dalvin Tomlinson, DT, Alabama: Tomlinson has below average size standing at 6’3″, weighing 305 lbs and is ranked as the 15th best defensive lineman available in the draft. He started alongside of projected top 5 pick Jonathan Allen and finished his senior year with 54 tackles, 3 sacks, 7 QB hurries, and 4.5 TFLs. He was used primarily in run-stop situations where he racked up 48 of his tackles.

What makes him interesting is his story. Tomlinson was offered a full scholarship to Harvard, was an all state wrestler in high school, played striker and goalie in high school soccer, plays the saxophone, and is an artist.  Needless to say, this guy is smart and very multi-talented.  His tape isn’t impressive but you can tell he is a team-first kind of player. He eats up double teams, doesn’t lose ground, and controls his gap assignments. He could either be a product of Allen getting all the attention, or he could be reason Allen was so successful.  I’m choosing to believe the latter.

Javancy Jones, EDGE, Jackson State University: Here is a guy that stood out at the East-West Shrine Game. He is a 6’1″, 245lb DE/OLB who dominated his competition in the SWAC. He boasts a 4.62 40 and led his team in tackles for three straight years and led the black college league in TFLs his junior year. He was a late addition to the Shrine Game but turned a lot of heads finishing with 4 tackles and blowing up multiple counters and screens.  Will be interesting to see how he fares at the combine but this guy appears to be a vocal leader with a high motor.  He could help on special teams at least.

Sam Rogers, FB, Virginia Tech: Sam Rogers is a 5’11” 230lb swiss army knife of a FB. He finished as a 2nd team All-American his senior year after amassing 6 TDs (4 receiving, 2 rushing) and leading the Hookies to a victory over Arkansas in the Belk Bowl.  Skins flat out stink in the Red Zone and need a full back so why not take a home-town hero who started four years after walking on?   Sam was given the Frank Beamers Honorary Jersey before his senior game against rival UVA which is given to the Hookie player who most resembles the legendary coach and is the coaching staffs greatest honor. The kid is a leader as well as a tremendously hard-worker and it shows on the field.  The redskins need players like this.

Well good thing we wasted all that time interviewing all those ‘great’ browns and jaguars ex-head coaches! Skins brass decided to promote their outside linebacker coach Greg Manusky to Defensive Coordinator since our outside linebackers were the only decent part of our defense last year. Obviously not the greatest hire we could have made but he has experience as a head defensive coordinator before. Here they are summed up in one tweet:

The early years got cut here but you get the point. Pretty average except for 2013 in Indy which appears to be a fluke.

From all reports, Manusky will keep the 3-4 defense so buckle up for more defensive lineman trying to cover slot receivers, gaping run lanes, and risky edge blitzes at random times that make you want to kick your own ass for rooting for this team. The good news is that the player love him. Lots of LBs are pumped about the hire (Junior Galette is already calling  out people on Twitter). Manusky helped coach the redskins to (somehow) be 9th in the league in sacks. Manuksy has worked with McCloughan before in SF so he’s been deemed a “Scot” guy which is never a bad thing.

Time will tell if he can turn around this putrid defense. He brings a lot more intensity than Barry and will probably take more risks too. He’s already hired the greatest football meme generator of all time in Jim Tomsula as the defensive line coach so how bad can he be?!

What a difference one week makes! The Redskins are choosing between either the Jaguars or the Browns flunky head coach for our new open defensive coordinator spot, while Sean McVay is now the leading candidate to take over as head coach to try and calm the dumpster fire that is the LA Rams.  The Chargers have officially jumped ship on San Diego and are heading to LA too and the Raiders are in the process of moving to Vegas.  Moves everywhere! I love this tweet by the Lightning about the Chargers new logo:

If I didn’t hate the Lightning so much for sweeping the Caps in the playoffs in 2011 I might have actually retweeted it (BTW Congrats Ovie on 1000th point – do me a favor and let me get to my seat next time before you do it though, dammit).

Defensive Coordinator:

The skins brass did the right thing last week and canned Joe Barry along with the rest of the defensive staff. You never want to be the guy that’s happy someone lost their job, but I would be lying to you if I didn’t crack a smile when I heard the news. Without diving into stats, the Redskins were one of the top 3 worst defenses in the league.  Now that’s not all Barry’s fault. We know there is an apparent lack of talent across the board on that side of the ball. However, when your defense gets worse from your first year to the next, it’s over. Whoever comes in next has an tough task ahead of them. Let’s look at the front runners.

Mike Pettine:

Bio: Oh boy a Cleveland Browns coach. How in the world would he get an interview?  Pettine was named the head coach of the browns in 2014 and was fired in 2016 after he finished 10-22 over those years. Pettine, much like Barry, got a pretty raw deal though. The Browns were starting over with Manziel and his defense was actually pretty good.  He had multiple defensive pro-bowlers in 2014.  Everything fell apart in 2015 when the team slipped to 3-13 and Manziel went crazy.  Pettine was the DC for the Jets under Rex Ryan from 2009-2012 where his defense was top 5 year after year.  When Rex was fired, he followed him to Buffalo where he had another great defense which propelled him to head coach consideration.

Take: I actually kind of like this pick. Here’s a guy who actually made the Browns somewhat competitive, especially seeing what happened to them this year. He is a disciple of Rex Ryan. He is an aggressive play caller and scheme orientated.  The skins would be a bltiz happy team which would be a nice change from the ultra-conservative defense we had last year.

Gus Bradley:

Bio: And behind door #2 we have Jaguars old ball coach, Gus Bradley. Gus was the head coach for the Jaguars for the past 4 years where he went 14-48. Even with that poor of a record, it seemed like everything was fine until the Jaguars fell apart this year when most people had them as a lock for the playoffs. Before that, Gus was the defensive coordinator for the Seahawks from 2009-2012, where he helped their defense go from 27th in the league to 4th by the year he left.

Take: Not a good choice here. I get that he was a head coach and that experience is vital, but this guy was a product of a talented system in Seattle which was proven by his record in Jax.  Gus is a Joe Barry replica. The skins defense would be almost the same as this year if we picked him.

Hopefully there are some more candidates available after the Super Bowl but Pettine has the clear advantage here in my mind.

UPDATE: McVay was hired by the Rams as I wrote this article. Will look into the potential offensive coordinators in another article.

Playoffs:

This week we are all Packers fans. The Packers did Redskins nation a huge solid last week by avenging us while blowing out the Giants and making Beckham have a temper tantrum.  Now they take the Cowboys in Dallas.  Nothing would be sweeter than seeing Rodgers expose that Dallas defense and force them to start throwing the ball to catch up. However, this isn’t Romo’s team anymore so we can’t bank on a late season melt down. That being said, here are my picks for this weekend:

Texans at Patriots: Patriots. Duh.

Seahawks at Falcons: Falcons. Tough one but the Seahawks have been too inconsistent and that defense isn’t the same as past years.

Steelers at Chiefs: Chiefs. This will be a back and forth game, but the chiefs defense will put them over the top.

Packers at Cowboys: Packers. Packers are hot right now and Aaron Rodgers is feeling it.  If that Packers defense can hold down that run game, even just a little, this game could get ugly.

With the 17th Overall Pick, the Redskins Select:

Zach Cunningham, ILB, Vanderbilt.  The first team All-American lead the SEC in tackles and was a finalist for the Butkus Award (Nations best linebacker). Standing 6’4″, 230, he looks more like a WR out there than a LB. Plug in the tape on this guy and you’ll scratch your head at first. He doesn’t make big hits. He, more often than not, tends to wrap up the ball carrier, standing high, and spin them to the ground. Other times, he’s standing vertical in the hole and absorbs the ball carrier. Made me wonder how a guy with such poor tackling form led the SEC in tackles. Yet, he doesn’t seem to miss many tackles, get pushed back, or run over.

As you watch, you’ll notice what great position he is in all the time. He diagnoses plays exceptionally quick and finds himself in the right spot constantly to make the play. His acceleration to the point of attack is top notch. His height and speed help tremendously in coverage as well, and he’s not afraid to get physical with a crossing TE or slot WR. I’ll admit, at first I wasn’t a fan of this guy. He seemed like he didn’t have the tenacity to be a NFL linebacker and arm tackles way too much. But the more I watched, the more I fell in love with his size, athleticism, and positioning. He tackles high but he doesn’t get juked out and that alone would help our defense slow down the run. Plus, Linebackers need to be more versatile than ever these days and this kid is the definition of versatile. He would match up well with any TE. He can use rush the passer and use his length to swat passes. Hell, we could use him just to block FGs (he blocked a FG this year by jumping over the center). He will have to add some weight and strength when he comes to the NFL, like all rookies, and when he does he could be a stud for a long time.

I am eager to see what his combine stats end up being, but as of now this would be a solid pick and one that would fit McCloughans “NFL is a big mans game” motto.

Preface: Yes I missed the entire year – so what, big deal, want to fight about it? We started off poorly and I couldn’t download film to make gifs of plays I thought were important so I did nothing instead.

Week 17 & 8-7-1: Well did that suck or what? All week we heard about how the Giants were going rest their starters and not game plan. To be honest, I blame myself for believing it. The Giants pulled the ultimate con job.  They came out in the media all week and saying things like “it’s hard to prepare for this meaningless game” (OBJ) and “we will rest most of our starters in the 2nd half” (Ben Macadoo) (paraphrasing both) and then played all their starters not named OBJ the whole game  Even Vegas bought it. The redskins were 8 point favorites and they lost by 9. The probably should’ve lost by more if the Giants didn’t run the ball for the entire 3rd quarter.

The season finale was a good summary of the redskins season as a whole. They couldn’t stop the run, couldn’t run the ball, and became too conservative when they needed to be aggressive. Overall, the redskins aren’t a playoff team. We all knew it from week one. They aren’t good enough. We won some games we should not have won and lost some games we should not have lost and somehow almost snuck into the playoffs. To summarize, we’re average. And to be average after a season where your draft class did close to nothing to help is promising.

The skins finished 8-7-1, a half game above 500 but we all know that tie should be a win (thank you Dustin “HooksItLeft” Hopkins for that). That makes it two straight years where the redskins finished above 500. It’s the first time in a decade we can say we that. However, we went 2-4 the last 6 games against teams that, for the most part, we should have beaten.  We finished with essentially the same record as last year and were the first team out of the playoff picture.

Surprises:

The Redskins biggest surprise was the play of the defense.  The redskins finished in the bottom of the league in just about everything and were much worse if you watched them live. Missed tackles, missed assignments, missed tackles, dropped interceptions, inability to shed blocks, and did I mention missed tackles?  There’s nothing worse than letting the Giants, who have one of the worst rushing offenses in the league, to run for over 150 yards. It seems like week after week, our opponents had a “get right game” and had their best game of the year. Is it a lack of talent? Poor coaching? Poor preparation? I say all of the above. If the skins are going to become any sort of contender, they’re going to need to address the defense immediately.

The NFLs biggest surprise this year was the Dallas Cowboys.  All I can say is they must have read my blog on Dak Prescott, because he led them to a 13-3 record in which they’ve manhandled every opponent. We will see if they can stay hot and make a Super Bowl run. As of now, their defense seems to have gotten better and their numerous draft picks are stepping up. It seems like no one can stop their run game and if Dak can continue to not turn the ball over and make good decisions, watch out, the Lombardi could be heading to Dallas just one year after they finished at the bottom of the league (it pains me to write that let along even think of it).

The Giants also finished the year well above previously thought. They played the free agent market and succeeded. They finished 11-5 and are playing their best ball just before the playoffs. Their free agent model was something that the redskins tried for YEARS and failed miserably. Maybe it’s because they have a stable QB, an elite WR, a stud SS who bandaids their imperfections. People are already calling for the redskins and their $50 mil in cap space to replicate their model and revamp our defense. Frankly, I can’t argue with revamping our defense but we must draft players, not pay the highest valued FA. The Giants did a good job finding role players in FA. However, this model has proven more often than not (especially with the redskins) to destroy teams.

Kirk Cousins:

Kirk Cousins finished the year with 4,917 yards, 25 TDs, 12 INTs, and a 67% completion percentage. Those stats were good enough for him to finish 3rd in the league in yards behind Drew Brees and Matt Ryan. Kirk can also boast this stat:

EDIT: Eli Manning threw for more as well

Kirk Cousins had a phenomenal year. He broke his own passing yardage record and lead the redskins to the #3 ranked offense in the league. So why is everyone so down on him? Well , for starters, the eye test tells a different story. Here was a QB that seemed to flounder in the red zone. He regressed drastically back to norm close to the goal line. The redskins finished with a 45% TD to red zone opportunity which was good enough to be 29th in the NFL. That’s down 13% from last season and is, in summary, just bad. Now, this probably has more to do with the run game than with Kirk but it adds to the argument that Cousins arm strength isn’t good enough to force that ball into a WR in tight spots.

Cousins also seemed to flounder in big games. He had a big game against the Bengals in London and another on Sunday Night against the Packers. However, he seemingly laid an egg against the Panthers on MNF and the Giants just a week ago. For the most part, Cousins excelled in shifting line assignments to pick up blitzes and finding the open receivers. However, in the games he struggled were the games he was sacked multiple times and was forcing it to his first read.  Essentially, his worst games were the ones were he resorted back to his old self. In order for him to take that next step, he will have to continue to calm his nerves and trust his line to give him enough time to find the open receiver.

In summary, Cousins proved that 2015 wasn’t a fluke. He proved that with an improved line and another year in the system, he could throw for more yards and lead the redskins to a top 3 offense with little to no run game. However, he helped cement critics concerns that he doesn’t have to stones to come throw in the clutch.  The season finale, a “win or go home” game was one of his worst performances of the year and will leave a sour taste in redskins fans mouths for years to come.

The Future/ Cousins Contract:

I thought this tweet was especially intriguing. Steinberg later went on to say “One is a leading MVP candidate. The other we will spend the rest of our lives debating”. Take a guess on who the two QBs are.  Answer below:

When you put the stats side by side, it really makes you wonder why bringing Cousins back is even a debate.  Even for the people that hate the numbers, you cannot argue that Cousins is the best QB the redskins have had in the last 25 years. His selflessness, his positive attitude, his work ethic, and his passion for the game is something to admire. He might not have all the bells and whistles of a super star, but he will quietly put up numbers  game after game, and most likely year after year. Another underrated quality of Cousins is his toughness. He is the first QB since Jason Campbell to start every game for two years. As a matter of fact, I don’t think he even missed a play this year.  That consistency is something that the redskins desperately need.

Cousins contract is what the whole offseason will be based around. If the skins decide he’s not worth the money, you can almost guarantee they will try and look for something in the draft (pick #17 by the way). A franchise tag will cost the skins around $24 mil this year and is still very much in play. Cousins value will most likely only increase as the market unfolds and rookie QBs get scouted. Right now, the some of the unrestricted free agent QBs besides Cousins are: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Case Keenum, Shaun Hill, Matt Schaub, Matt McGloin, EJ Manuel, Blaine Gabbert, Matt Cassell, Mark Sanchez, Brain Hoyer, Geno Smith, Kellen Klemens, etc.  I would be shocked if Cousins isn’t the first one to get a deal out of this group and Cousins deal will dictate what the kind of deal the rest gets.

Last year, I proposed Kirk would get a 4 year $85 Mil contract and unfortunately I was wrong. Cousins ended up betting on himself and played the year on the franchise tag. That bet paid off. There have been rumors that Cousins may make up to $30 mil PER YEAR thanks to a 15% increase in the salary cap, QB starved FA market, and QB needy teams having anywhere from $60-100 mil in cap space (Browns projected $105 mil cap space). Those numbers would make him the highest paid QB in the NFL by about $5 mil per year. To be frank, those numbers are startling.

Kirk is not the best QB in the league by any means but he will become the highest of the highest paid.  This is the nature of the new CBA. Now that the first overall pick isn’t the highest paid player in the NFL year after year, the QB market has picked up the tab. Every year, an average QB is making buku bucks (see Osweiler and Romo). Cousins has found himself in the right place at the right time.

People are going to be hired or fired over the Cousins decision. Cousins, who’s 28 years old, is in his prime and deserves a long term contract. Since it’s not my money, I say pay him what he wants and focus your attention to rebuilding the defense.

Other Redskins Free Agents:

Desean Jackson and Pierre Garcon are the two high profile free agents.  It’s becoming apparent that the Redskins are going to only be able to afford one if they want to sign Kirk and add to their defense. If you have to choose one, and they were the same price, you have to choose Garcon. He’s been a steady contributor, a leader, and the WR you go to on 4th and 1. He gets involved in run blocking, plays through injuries, and doesn’t complain when he doesn’t get the ball. He’s a player that is essential to a building team.

On the defensive front, you’re going to have to take a long look at resigning Chris Baker. He was a healthy contributor on a defensive line that was historically bad against the run, rushing the passer, tackling, and pretty much everything. All mock drafts have the redskins taking a defensive lineman or a linebacker.  It’s sad but I honestly see Baker walking. He will be offered something low because of his age (29) and the lack of production of the unit as a whole.

2017 Draft:

The redskins go into this years draft with the 17th overall pick. It’s early to be talking draft but it would be beyond stunning if the redskins didn’t select a defensive player with this pick. Rumors have the redskins scouting defensive lineman but if Reuben Foster falls to 17, I guarantee that’s who the redskins take. More draft talk coming soon.

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.

We are officially in the dog days of summer.  Rookie minicamp is over and OTA’s are finished.  However, we’re only a week away from the beginning of training camp and a little over a month away from the biggest cock tease of all Preseason Football.  However, in relatively big news today Andrew Luck (QB Colts) signed a “mega-deal” contract extension totaling $139 over 6 years ($87 mil guaranteed).  Since he was already slated for $16 mil this year that means he’s essentially signed a deal for $123M over 5 years. As most expected after the new CBA, the average salary for a starting QB is skyocketing.  Just look around the league at the deals teams are shelling out for this mediocre ass QB class: Brock Osweiler -$72M 4 years, Sam Bradford – $36M 2 years, Chase Daniel (???) $21M 3 years.  Hell RG3 is starting to look like a steal at $15M 2 years.

It seems the bar has been set for new QB contracts with Lucks.  Luck will now average just under $25M per year for the next 6 years.  Luck has been a great player for Indy and deserves a new contract.  However, his stats were way down last year.  As a matter of fact, he was one of the worst QBs in the league.  He finished 2015 only playing 7 games with 1,800 yds, 15 TDs, 12 picks and a 58.7% completion percentage. Many Colts fans thought Matt Hasselback was better than Luck towards the end of the season.  This was also the first year with Luck the Colts missed the playoffs.

So for comparison, lets look at Cousins numbers.  In 16 games Kirk went for 4,166 yds, 29 TDs, 11 picks, and a 69.8% completion percentage.  In summary, Cousins was flat out better than Luck last year. Way better. The skins also won the division and went to the playoffs.  Advantage, Cousins.  Now I’m not oblivious to the fact that Luck was better his first three years than Cousins.  However, the timing of this deal is significant.  Luck had 3 great years and a very down year.  Then he gets paid mega bucks.  Kirk had 3 years of riding the bench, making spot starts then all sudden a huge record breaking year.  So clearly Kirk falls a little short in the experience category to Luck but the potential factor alone should make you believe that Kirk is worth almost the same as Luck.  Lets look at Lucks best year (2014) he went for 4,761 yds, 40 tds, 16 picks, and a 61% completion.  That’s pretty comparable to Cousins 2015 stat line not to mention Luck had 100 more attempted passes in 2014 than Cousins did in 2015.

My gut tells me that I’d rather have Luck that Cousins so you have to imagine that Lucks deal is the absolute ceiling for Cousins.  However, if you don’t think negotiations aren’t starting at $25M/ yr for Cousins, you’re not paying attention.  My prediction is Cousins will be resigned for $85M over 4 years with $50M guaranteed right on July 15th.  People (skins fans) will be outraged over this since it will make Cousins the 6th highest paid QB in the league.  However, this will prove to be wise if Cousins goes out and has another 4,000 yd season with 70% completion especially if we make the playoffs again. We need him and he could use the security of a guaranteed deal. I just don’t see any other way he takes less than $21M/ yr so let’s just get it done already.

PS: Yet if you’re Cousins, wouldn’t you rather not sign the contract, play this year out and hope to outplay Luck for another year? You’re already getting $19.9M under the franchise tag and the salary cap will rise again next year. Not to mention the only QB worth a damn that will be a free agent next year is 37 year old Drew Brees (other recognizable Geno Smith – turrible, Landry Jones – boo, EJ Manuel – gross, Tyrod Taylor – meh). Everyone keeps saying it’s in everyones best interest to get the deal done.  However, it could be in Kirks best interest to ride it out and play well next year.  The risk is high but the pay would be tremendous.