Washington Redskins want Kirk Cousins back

Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins is in a little more demand this year than he was last offseason. He came into the season as the No. 3 quarterback on the team then ran with it when he became the starter. I had no idea what Redskins head coach Jay Gruden saw in him early on but Cousins showed the NFL in 2015.

In the process, he set single-season records for passing yards with 4,166 and total touchdowns with 34. He also led the league in completion percentage at 69.8 percent while finishing fifth in passer rating at 101.6. All of that came during a contract year so GM Scot McCloughan is going to have to break bread to re-sign him.

And of course, Cousins will be McCloughan’s No. 1  priority in free agency this offseason. McCloughan, who isn’t one to speak to the media a whole lot, has made it clear Wednesday that he fully intends to re-sign the impending free agent quarterback to a long-term contract as soon as possible.

He told the media at the Senior Bowl, “Well, the franchise tag is an option. You’d rather get a long-term deal done, but we have a lot of options we’re dealing with right now, and that’s one of them. I saw improvement as the season went on. From the standpoint of going forward of course, we would like to have him around.

“The philosophy with me and the organization is we won’t talk contract stuff with the media, but I want him to be a part of the Redskins.”

So McCloughan in break Cousins off a proper chunk at around $17-20 million!