Washington began their OTAs on Tuesday, and Wednesday brought Kirk Cousins media availability. The Washington quarterback signed his franchise tag tender and is comfortable moving forward without a long-term deal. That won’t stop the questions about a potential deal.
Cousins said on Wednesday that if a deal is going to happen this year, he would not expect it until closer to the July 15 deadline. After July 15, franchised players cannot sign a new contract until the next league year begins. Cousins has been pretty low key about the whole process, and his comments Wednesday reflected that:
“Deadlines do deals. That’s just kind of a rule in negotiating. Why would would something happen way before a deadline? It just doesn’t make sense. I’m not in a hurry, they’re not in a hurry. We’ll just see how things go. I’m being patient.”
Washington has OTAs the next couple weeks, followed by mandatory minicamp. The minicamp will be open to the media, and Cousins will likely speak with the media at least one more time between now and then.
I don’t imagine anything will change during that time, and honestly, I don’t expect anything to change the rest of this year. If the deadline passes without a deal, I fully expect some leaking of displeasure from one or both sides. It has felt like a resolution would not happen until next year at the earliest. I say “earliest” because there is always the possibility of a third straight franchise tag. But I think we see some kind of overall resolution, and Cousins on a long-term deal somewhere by this time next year. Whether it’s Washington, San Francisco, or somewhere else will be the big question.