Redskins & Kirk Cousins Have Had “Very Preliminary” Contract Talks

Albert Breer of NFL Media reports that the Redskins and QB Kirk Cousins have had “very preliminary” contract talks this season.

• According to Breer, talks are likely to intensify during the offseason.

There has been increasing talk that the Redskins would like to re-sign Cousins, but there may not be a huge incentive for him to negotiate a deal mid-season, considering how limited the pool of available quarterbacks will be next year.

Redskins HC Jay Gruden said recently that he would like to re-sign Cousins, but added that this decision wasn’t up to him.

“Obviously, Kirk’s a guy we’d like to keep around, no doubt,” Gruden said, via the Washington Post. “But that’ll be up to [GM Scot McCloughan] and Kirk’s agent and Kirk.”

Cousins, 27, is in the final year of his four-year, $2,572,688 rookie contract that included a $472,688 signing bonus. He’ll make a base salary of $660,000 for the 2015 season before becoming an unrestricted free agent during the offseason.

This season, Cousins has thrown for 2,278 yards while completing 67.9 percent of his passes to go along with 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions over the course of nine games. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 20 quarterback out of 35 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding a potential extension for Cousins as the news is available.