Redskins Have Offered Kirk Cousins Five-Year Extension

Update:

Mike Jones of the Washington Post reports that the Redskins have not extended a new contract offer to QB Kirk Cousins and that the team still has their $20 million annual offer with low guarantees on the table.

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Redskins president Bruce Allen tells Albert Breer of TheMMQB that they’ve offered QB Kirk Cousins a five-year extension on top of his franchise tag.

“Well, since we’ve offered him a contract around that length, I’d say yes we do,” Allen said when asked if he sees Cousins as the face of the franchise for the next five or six years. “He has gotten better the last three years, and we see him getting better in the future, and that’s why we do want to sign him long-term. We like his role as our quarterback and our leader, we just have to work that out.

“We talked last year, we didn’t get it done long-term. We have him signed for this year, and an option for next year. But our goal is to get a long-term deal.”

The real question is what the Redskins offering in terms of annual salary and total guarantees as part of this extension.

A report from a few weeks ago mentioned that Washington was offering Cousins a new contract worth around $20 million per year, but that isn’t close to what he’s set to make by playing out the year under his franchise tag.

The Redskins will need to come closer to $24 million annually in order for something to get done, or Cousins figures to be in position to test the open market next year.

There have been a lot of trade rumors involving Cousins for the past few months, but Allen mentioned earlier in the week that they’ve discussed any trades involving Cousins.

“I can’t keep up with the rumors,” Allen said. “Kirk and I have talked almost a dozen times this offseason, and we get to laugh when we hear these different rumors. We haven’t talked to anyone.”

According to Allen, the plan is still to sign Cousins to a long-term extension at some point.

“Our goal from the beginning has been long-term,” Allen said. “I’m still hopeful and confident we’ll do it.”

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.

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.

We’ll have more regarding Cousins as the news is available.