ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that no deals for franchise players Kirk Cousins, Le’Veon Bell, or Trumaine Johnson are close at this time.
The deadline to sign these three players to extensions is Monday at 4 pm EST, so it appears as though nothing is going to get done, barring a significant change over the next 24 hours.
This really shouldn’t come as a big surprise, considering that multiple reports have said these three players are more likely to play out the year under the franchise tag and then test the open market again in 2018.
Cousins, 28, is a former fourth-round pick of the Redskins back in 2012. He played out the final year of his four-year, $2,572,688 rookie contract that included a $472,688 signing bonus when Washington elected to use the franchise tag on Cousins that paid him $19.953 million fully guaranteed for the 2016 season.
The Redskins franchised him for the second year in a row this past February and he’s now set to make $23.94 million fully guaranteed for the 2017 season.
In 2016, Cousins has appeared in all 16 games and thrown for 4,917 yards while completing 67 percent of his passes to go along with 25 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 8 quarterback out of 36 qualifying players.
Bell, 25, is a former second-round pick of the Steelers back in 2013. He played out the final year of his four-year, $4,120,600 rookie contract that included a $1,376,800 signing bonus and was in position to be one of the best players in this year’s free agent market.
In 2016, Bell appeared in 12 games and running for 1,268 yards on 261 carries (4.9 YPC) to go along with 75 receptions for 616 yards receiving and three nine total touchdowns. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 1 running back out of 62 qualifying players.
Johnson, 27, is a former third-round pick of the Rams back in 2012. He played out his rookie contract with the Rams before being franchised back in February and made $13.952 million fully guaranteed under the tag.
In 2016, Johnson appeared in 14 games for the Rams and recorded 58 total tackles, one interception, one fumble recovery, and 12 pass defenses. Pro Football Focus rated him as the No. 28 overall cornerback out of 120 qualifying players.
We’ll have more regarding new deals for these players as the news is available.
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