The San Francisco 49ers agreed to terms on a two-year contract with quarterback Brian Hoyer on Wednesday, and it will likely become officially on Thursday shortly after 1 p.m. PT. He will be the first quarterback on the 49ers roster, and his addition does nothing to preclude other free agency additions.
One name that continues to pop up is Kirk Cousins. Washington placed the exclusive franchise tag on him, but there seems to be no progress on the matter. And by all accounts, things might be getting worse. Mike Silver discussed the Cousins situation on NFL Network Wednesday afternoon, and he said that he believes Cousins, “wants out of Washington right now and would like to be in San Francisco.”
Silver also described the overall situation in Washington as a “dumpster fire,” and in light of numerous reports none of this is surprising. From just a Cousins perspective, there is reportedly sufficient bad blood between Dan Snyder and the Shanahan family that he might prevent any trade simply because of that. Kevin Jones wrote about it today, but two weeks ago, Jennifer Chan reported on the same issue. Spite really could keep Kirk Cousins in Washington one more year.
But it goes beyond that. Just look at all the insanity surrounding potentially soon-to-be former GM Scot McCloughan. He was not at the NFL Combine, and has not been at the team’s facility during the free agency tampering period. The team said he was dealing with a personal matter, and early reports were that it was related to a personal matter connected to the passing of his grandmother.
However, now the Washington Post is reporting that McCloughan’s relationship with team president Bruce Allen has, “soured to the point that the general manager’s return is now viewed as virtually impossible.” McCloughan is supposed to have full say over the roster but is reportedly unhappy with friction on that front. Additionally, he is reportedly not happy the team did not come more to his defense after Chris Cooley speculated that drinking might be the cause of McCloughan’s absence from the team.
The McCloughan situation may have no tangible impact on the Cousins situation moving forward, but based on the Washington Post article linked above, it did impact Washington getting into its present mess with the quarterback. McCloughan was expected to have full control over personnel, but sources told the Post that was not the case. Among other things, McCloughan has told people he would have locked up Kirk Cousins last offseason, avoiding two straight years of the franchise tag.
Whatever the case, the 49ers options are not entirely clear. If Dan Snyder is being that obstinate, a Cousins-49ers trade might be entirely unrealistic. If a deal could happen though, the 49ers can try and leverage something relatively cheap in draft picks now, or they can wait and see what happens next offseason. Washington could choose to franchise Cousins, but it would result in a salary well over $30 million. They could also use the transition tag, giving them the right to match any contract, but not getting them draft picks if they choose not to match.
I’ll just leave you with this. It’s certainly nice not to be the dumpster fire organization right now!