The Washington Commanders are not the same football team that Kirk Cousins left six years ago when he brought his talents to the Twin Cities.
As far-fetched as it would seem after his first stint in the nation’s capital, Washington has remained a fringe candidate to land the veteran quarterback. On Monday ESPN’s Adam Schefter didn’t rule out the Commanders when discussing Cousins’ possible destinations with the Pat McAfee show.
That got Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd thinking and he made the case for Washington to make a play for their former quarterback.
“So Adam Schefter at [ESPN] is saying don’t rule out Washington, with the No. 2 pick, going and getting Kirk Cousins. One thing about Kirk Cousins, he’s guaranteed to work in the NFL. You got nine, ten wins with Kirk Cousins,” said Cowherd on his radio show Tuesday.
Washington have widely been thought of as a likely candidate to take a QB with their second overall pick in April’s draft. Drafting a QB high doesn’t always guarantee you success, argued Cowherd.
“Last year, before the injury, Kirk Cousins was lighting it up,” continued Cowherd. “His ceiling is lower but his floor is incredibly high… Washington with the most salary cap space, they’ve got a lot of it, is not out of the realm of possibility.”
The Commanders enter free agency with the most cap space in the league at a whopping $91 million, according to Over The Cap. That’s certainly enough to offer Cousins a deal that dishes out over $40 million a year and still be able to greatly overhaul a roster that finished last in the NFC East at 4-13 last season.
“Kirk Cousins is a B+ quarterback,” Cowherd continued. “Acquiring Cousins is like taking the freeway to work. You’re going to get there. Get in line, you’re going to get there. Drafting a quarterback is the ultimate detour. If you’re the Jets with Zach Wilson or the Niners with Trey Lance, that detour got ugly, took you to the precipice of a cliff about 15 yards into it.”
"Acquiring Cousins is like taking the freeway to work. You're going to get there… Drafting a QB is the ultimate detour."
— @ColinCowherd pic.twitter.com/WGcpOqHIHZ
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) March 5, 2024
Despite the overwhelming cap space and ability to pay for additional talent around him, Kirk Cousins landing in Washington is still a longshot. DraftKings has the Commanders at +2500 to land the veteran QB. That’s far below Atlanta’s -225 and the Vikings’ +150.
