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Everyone loves an excellent underdog story. Just take a look on the film enterprise to see any number of examples: Rudy, Rookie of the Year, heck, even Space Jam (you don't assume the Looney Tunes have been FAVORED in that recreation, do you?).

Kirk Cousins is a real-life underdog story. The fourth-round, unheralded choose of Michigan State supplanted incumbent Washington starter Robert Griffin III, and led Washington to solely its second playoff berth since 2007.

However, his workforce is just not happy he's the long-term reply as quarterback, and that insecurity goes to make Cousins the subsequent base wage than another QB throughout the league.

How is that potential? Washington put the non-exclusive franchise tag on Cousins, which means he can negotiate with one different workforce, supplied that workforce is eager to give up two first-round draft picks for him.

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In the earlier decade, 4 quarterbacks have been tagged. Three of them – Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Michael Vick – signed long-term affords the an identical off-season they've been tagged. The solely totally different QB to be tagged throughout the earlier 10 years was Matt Cassel in 2009, and that was by a New England workforce that had no intention of defending him and solely wanted to utilize him as commerce bait.

It is sensible. After all, a workforce wouldn't put a non-exclusive tag on a quarterback they actually believed was their franchise's future. The risk of shedding that participant for two draft picks is simply too good.

There's trigger to have doubts. Though Cousins did have statistically his best season this earlier 12 months, ending virtually 70 p.c of his passes for 4,166 yards, 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, he did it in the direction of subpar opponents. Washington didn't win a single recreation in the direction of teams with a worthwhile file this season, and Cousins is just 11-14 in his career as a starter.

It's an excellent switch for Washington, too. With regular supervisor Scot McCloughan calling the pictures, we aren't seeing any outrageous affords, like when the workforce handed $100 million over to Albert Haynesworth, who horribly underperformed and is taken under consideration certainly one of many worst free agent signings in NFL historic previous.

Sure, Cousins will make $19.953 million this upcoming season, the subsequent base wage than every totally different quarterback throughout the league. But it'll give Washington one different 12 months to see if he's actually their man.

If he is, good – he'll be signed to a profitable long-term deal, and both sides could be snug. But if Cousins regresses once more to develop to be the inconsistent quarterback he was sooner than the second half of this season? Washington can switch on, they normally aren't saddled by a crippling deal. That's one factor the franchise's followers are all too conscious of.