By Ronald
N. Guy Jr.
This is a
reluctant topic. There has been a
conscious effort in recent months to not infect this column with the seemingly
never-ending saga of Washington QB Kirk Cousins’s contract situation. The Cousins-abstinence is rooted in
issue-fatigue – mine and likely yours, my loyal reader.
What else
can be said? “Will he or won’t he sign a
long-term deal in Washington?” is a question that’s been picked over like a
carcass on the Serengeti. But there is something
else to this story - I think. That’s the
gamble here.
To ardent
fans, the facts are as familiar as Taylor Swift’s hits are to teenage
girls. Cousins, a 2012 fourth round
pick, earned the starting job in 2015 (after Robert Griffin III fizzled), the last
year of his modest rookie contract. He
played crazy-well - 29 touchdown passes, a franchise record 4,166 passing yards
and a division title. The sudden and
unexpected performance spike – he was benched after a rash of turnovers the
year before – created major market valuation issues for player and team.
The result
was a one-year franchise player contract for $19M-ish in 2016. Cousins repeated his 2015 performance, but his
game, objectively speaking, is among the top 10 to 15 quarterbacks, far shy of elites
like Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. In the
NFL, though, the highest paid quarterback is usually the last pretty good one
to sign a deal. But with salary cap
constraints and the goal of building championship rosters, overpaying at any
position, and especially at the pricey position of quarterback, comes with
consequences - hence Cousins’s valuation challenge and a second, one-year, $24M
franchise tag this year.
The
stalemate is no one’s fault. Cousins
can’t be scorned for seeking maximum value (no football player can) and the
franchise’s caution at making Cousins the highest paid player in league history
is understandable. Cousins and
Washington reside at the unprecedented confluence of a pretty good (not elite)
quarterback and exponentially increasing, salary cap crippling positional pay. The waters ahead are largely unchartered and
wrought with risk.
That’s Kirk
Cousins’s dramatic six-year career in 250 words - but it isn’t over yet. Another round of contract drama awaits this
offseason and that is where this story still has some juice.
Cousins
holds the cards at this point…sorta. It
is hard to imagine Washington tagging him again at the 2018 market rate of
$34M. It could, but under that scenario salary
cap realities would cause Cousins’s surrounding talent to regress. That benefits no one. Similarly, if Cousins seeks every blood-soaked
dime, he’ll either force Washington’s hand – again, not the best outcome for
either party - or have to accept the uncertainty of the market – both in value,
location, fit and legacy.
What we
have here is a dilemma. There are
options for both player and team, but none is ideal and all have risks. If this, then that. But…if…or…maybe. Coin flips.
Rolls of the dice. Rock, paper
scissors. Ouija boards. Tarot cards.
Psychics. Follow the head or the
heart? Oh the consternation. And for every road taken, there are those
left unexplored – hindsight’s brutal playground.
Feels a
lot like life, eh? Do I accept this job
or that one? Chase the promotion, or
not? Stay in this relationship or move
on? Send the kids to this school or that
one? Stocks or bonds? Move or stay put? Buy or rent?
There is
rarely an attainable, slam dunk alternative at such significant pivot points. There’s what you did and the reasonable,
defendable, understandable thing you didn’t (do). Washington and its quarterback have arrived
at such a place. Both have invested
significantly – six years - in the other.
Both are acquainted with the others’ strengths and imperfections. The familiarity breeds some contempt, but it
also creates comfort and a rare opportunity for a synonymous relationship
between a player, team and fanbase. And to
make that opportunity reality, all that’s required is a contract a little north
of the team’s and a little south of the quarterback’s desire. What it will take is a shared goal and equitable
compromise – and restrained ego and pride.
Such is football. Such is life.
No comments:
Post a Comment