Redskins President Says They Haven’t Discussed Kirk Cousins Trade With Any Team

Redskins president Bruce Allen tells JP Finley of CSN Mid-Atlantic that they’ve discussed any trades involving franchise QB Kirk Cousins this offseason, despite numerous trade rumors.

“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.”

Trade rumors have primarily centered around the 49ers now that they’ve hired Kyle Shanahan as their new head coach. However, there has been some talk that the Browns could show interest at some point.

Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer recently reported that the Browns are not expected to trade for Cousins, but three other teams have attempted to trade for him in the past few weeks and were shot down quickly.

The Redskins officially placed the exclusive franchise tag on Cousins Tuesday. The exclusive tag prevents other teams from negotiating with him during free agency, but the Redskins are still fully able to trade him to another team and give him permission to speak to a team about a long-term extension.

By tagging Cousins again, this all but rules out a third franchise tag for Cousins, which means he’s one season away from testing the open market and possibly becoming the highest paid player in the NFL.

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.