The Josh Harris Group Future is NOW!

Did it make me sick to see all the Cowboys fans in our house yesterday? Absolutely. Did it make me sick that they beat us to win the NFC East? Absolutely. But yesterday was the only time in my life that I can remember wanting to lose to the Cowboys. And trusting it will be the last! To secure the #2 slot of draft picks for the best chance of franchise altering trajectory is huge and in the big picture, way more important than this game vs. the despised Cowboys. (Looking forward to seeing the Lions get their revenge @ Dallas in the playoffs!)

If you have been paying attention since the Josh Harris Group took over, there has been so much to like from the jump. Though I was hopeful we may have a good season b/c of the change (very wrong about predicting 11 wins!), it was never about the season on the field. No matter what happened, nothing was going to dampen my optimism with this ownership group. And it shouldn’t for other Washington fans either. Taking over in late July (on my birthday!) gave them no chance to make any moves prior to the season. They communicated that it would be a sit back and evaluate kind of season. And in spite of many fans who wanted Rivera fired before the season ended, Harris stayed true to his word: giving Ron Rivera the full season, no matter what. Which I also think was smart as staying with him when things started unraveling actually gave us the better chance to lose out and get this #2 pick!

And now, we finally get to see what we have long anticipated: the Josh Harris Group ready for their first offseason, with many moves and exciting things upcoming.

As expected, Ron Rivera was let go this morning. Harris put out a very impressive, classy statement, communicating his gratitude for Rivera, and vision for the future.

And Rivera put out a great statement as well. No, this wasn't Danny firing Zorn at 4:30AM- after making him wait around for 2 hours- immediately after the team got back from their game. This was all class and respect, from both sides.

As I have said many times: I don’t think there is a head coach- perhaps ever- that I can think of who has had to deal with more adversity and organizational challenges than Ron Rivera. Cancer. COVID. Team name changes. Investigations. Allegations. Media onslaught. Snyder. Ownership changes. You name it. Yet through it all, he fought. He was determined, and relentless in his efforts to stay the course, not give up, not give in. And do his best. And I will forever respect him and be grateful for what he did here.

Remember what we often saw and grew sick of in years past? Dan and Vinny or Dan and Bruce running around rogue with no smart plan to chase and lure HC candidates? In stark contrast, Harris is demonstrating so much more brilliance and competence, by first surrounding himself with a team of advisors- including the well-respected Bob Myers who was the elite GM of the NBA 4X champ Warriors- to help evaluate who these next hires should be.

This is what smart, forward thinking good organizations do! Not only is it impressive how quickly they have assembled a team, and are jumping into this well thought of plan in lining up multiple interviews. But they have also done it without any leaks along the way!

Now we get to see how this exciting process unfolds and who is hired. For the first time in decades- before Snyder- we are about ready to see a true, successful structure: an actual GM who has true control of football operations (possibly a team president over him), and then a HC who the GM hires, who should have full control over the roster moves, in healthy tandem with the GM, assembling and having full control over the roster.

Why have I been so excited about this offseason?

- Harris Group gets to finally start making their moves with their people.

- We get a complete overhaul from Snyder's previous connections.

- We get a new GM, and possibly team president as well.

- We get a new HC

- We have a surplus of high draft capital: #2 overall round picks, 2- 2nd round picks, 2- 3rd round picks (5 picks in top 100!), and many others!

- We have about 90M of salary cap space!

- We may get a team name rebrand announcement!

- We may get RFK stadium announcement!

Yes, if you are paying close attention, there are many reasons to be excited about the future of the Washington, Burgundy & Gold, NFL football team. We just got to experience our version of "The process" in this 2023 on field season! Time to buy now friends.

This is indeed a new day. The future is NOW!

The HOF Case for Gary Clark

When I heard that my friend, and Redskins Ring of Fame legend Wide Receiver Gary Clark, was once again on the Pro Football Hall of Fame (HOF) ballot class of 2020, I was excited, and again reminded that the HOF induction process is not always a perfect one.

I want to lay out my case for why I think Gary Clark should absolutely be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Prior to his NFL debut with the Redskins in 1985, he was actually drafted by the Jacksonville Bulls of the former USFL in 1984 and had a very productive season. In fact, he told me he gives a lot of credit from those early days to Jax Head Coach Lindy Infante for teaching him the touch and go strategy against man coverage that he thought was brilliant, and would no doubt help set up future success. Fortunately for Redskins fans, the USFL would fold in 1985, bringing Gary Clark to the NFL and the start of his illustrious career with the Burgundy and Gold.

Right out of the gate, Clark dazzled in his rookie campaign, compiling a whopping 72 receptions, 5 TD’s, and just under 1,000 yards. In fact, he still holds the Redskins WR record for most yards in his rookie season. Then in 1986, in spite of missing one game, Clark still had 74 catches, and 7 TD’s and nearly 1,300 yards, which were 2nd highest totals in the NFC behind Jerry Rice. And consider the era he played in, when 70+ catches per season was a really big deal, as compared to the modern era where receivers numbers are vastly elevated due to various factors, such as nuances of illegal contact, personal fouls, and other rules.

All told with the Redskins, Clark was a four time pro bowler, three time All-Pro, and two time Super Bowl champion. He was an integral part of “The Posse”, arguably the greatest WR trio ever assembled. Apart from an ‘87 strike game when Anthony Allen had 255 yards, Clark still holds the Redskins record for most receiving yards (241- and 11 catches!) in a game, which also happened to be vs the elite, all-time dominant Giants defense, during their 1986 Super Bowl Championship season.

Another interesting stat to point out is that while Gary played for the Redskins, he had more receptions (549), TD’s (58), yards (8,742), and yards per reception (16) than his HOF teammate Art Monk during the same time.

For his amazing 11 year NFL career, Clark racked up a total of 699 receptions, 65 TD’s, 10,856 yards, and 15.5 yards per reception. Of these, he had five 1,000+ yard seasons, which were also considered a more significant benchmark during that era. He also averaged 65 yards per game, and an eye-popping 15.5 yards per reception average, both of which are also in the same range as several current HOF’ers. As a Cardinal in 1994, he became the first NFL receiver to catch 50 or more passes in the first 10 seasons of his career. Then at the time of his retirement, he actually ranked in the top five in career receptions and receiving yards.

Among his many career highlights, Gary told me that his favorite regular season moment was his OT game-winning TD vs the Vikings in 1986.

There were several huge regular season games over his career, when the lights were brightest and stakes were highest, that Clark delivered in the clutch. One game that immediately stands out to me was during the historic 1991 championship run. The Redskins raced out of the gate to an impressive, virtually unstoppable start. And it wasn’t just the wins. They were lopsided, complete domination wins. And yes, right in the middle of this domination was Gary Clark, on his way to his third All-Pro season. The 7-0 Redskins rolled into the Meadowlands for a Sunday night primetime showdown vs the defending Super Bowl Champion Giants, who had been a painful nemesis, having won 6 straight vs the Burgundy & Gold. In this pivotal game, once again Gary Clark seized the spotlight and delivered when his team needed him the most. The win not only snapped the Giants win streak and propelled the Redskins to 8-0, it probably also served to really fuel the ensuing confidence and continued domination for the rest of the ‘91 juggernaut run.

Then just 2 weeks after the big Giants win- Clark accumulated an astounding 203 yards (on 4 catches!), and 3 TD’s in a lopsided onslaught vs the Falcons, propelling the surging Redskins to an eye-popping 10-0.

But what also takes Gary Clark to the next level is that he had some really good postseason success with 58 receptions, 826 yards, and 6 TD’s. Among these were very big, clutch moments. One was the game-winning TD in the ‘87 NFC Championship game vs the Vikings. Now a fascinating story that Gary told me from this game, leading up to the game winning TD: He said that he told Doug [Williams] earlier in the game that the next time they (coaching staff) called a “7 route” (corner route in their offense), that he was going to run a hook route instead because he thought they (Vikings D) were anticipating the 7 route. So on what would be the Redskins last offensive drive of the game, when the play called for the 7 route, Clark ran and Doug threw the hook route instead, and Clark scored the game-winning TD!

Then 2 weeks later in Super Bowl XXII, he would score what also turned out to be the game-winning TD vs. the Broncos during the greatest quarter in the history of football. Then during the 1991 championship run, Clark had huge post-season TD’s, that proved to be game-sealing, leave-no-doubt moments. First, vs. the Lions in the Championship game, and then vs the Bills in Super Bowl XXVI.

And in what turned out to be his last TD as a Redskin, it was also in a big, game sealing moment vs. the Vikings in the ‘92 NFC Wild Card game.

As we further evaluate Gary Clark’s HOF induction consideration, it’s important to also consider current HOF wide receivers and how Clark stacks up to them. Now of course it’s important to not just focus on player stats comparison, but nonetheless they are still very important. In particular, they are important when we compare players from around the same era. One would be John Stallworth, who had career totals of 537 receptions, 8,723 yards, 63 TD’s, 4 pro bowls. He also played 14 seasons to accumulate these totals, as compared to Clark’s 11. And like Gary Clark had in HOF teammate Art Monk, Stallworth had another HOF teammate in Lynn Swan. But as we look at Lynn Swann’s 9 year career totals, he only had 336 receptions, 5,462 yards, 51 TD’s, 3 pro bowls- all less than Clark’s totals. And yes, we all know that Lynn Swan is probably most famously known for his acrobatic catch in Super Bowl X. But Gary Clark also had exceptional catches including, ironically, this catch vs. the Steelers!

Another great HOF wide receiver of note is Fred Biletnikoff, who played for 13 seasons and had 589 receptions, 8,974 yards, 76 TD’s, and made 6 pro bowls. And his Raiders teams won 1 Super Bowl. And another relatively similar comp would be Michael Irvin, who played 12 seasons, with 750 receptions, nearly 12,000 yards, 65 TD‘s, and 15.9 yards per reception.

Yes, the regular and post-season cumulative stats are impressive. And no doubt arguably sufficient in themselves to justify HOF induction. But beyond the mere stats, I think it’s important to emphasize Gary Clark’s many intangibles, and several essential traits that are needed in a star to have well-rounded success. One of these was his incredible durability. Amazingly, he only missed 9 games his entire career! Now this doesn’t mean he stayed completely injury and pain free. He told me there were several games that he took pain killers, in spite of the many nagging hamstring and groin issues. And of course he still played at his consistently high level. Also consider that during this era, the NFL didn’t have the current standards of concussion protocols and knowledge that is more known today. In fact, he believes he probably had 3 to 4 concussions during his career. He said his mindset was that he just got his “bell rung”, and had to “shake off the cobwebs”, to get back into the game and keep giving his all. He was such a fierce competitor who wanted to do all he could in his power to help his team win. In fact, Doug Williams, who I met during an exclusive premier of his NFL “A Football Life”, when it was aired last year had some great things to say publicly about Gary that night: “Pound for pound, he [Gary Clark] was the toughest football player I ever played with in my life.”

Based on what Gary has often told me, I also think that he had an appropriate “IT” factor trait, and the kind of competitive mindset that every athlete needs: that he didn’t think too highly of himself as he would never be too comfortable and assume he had his WR position made, but would continue to play and work so hard so that he wouldn’t “lose his job” to someone else. To this day, he sings the praises of his WR Posse, other teammates, and the coaching staff, giving them lots of credit and pushing him to excel. Another fascinating aspect of his competitive mindset that he has often shared in what fueled him- and what he thinks is an important factor among teammates and in a good, winning football culture- is how much he hated to lose, perhaps even more than he wanted to win. Yes, he still loved to win, and celebrated with the best of them. Though I’m sure many have worked as hard, I am convinced no one worked harder. Gary Clark was the ideal team player, a fierce competitor, and one of the key outspoken leaders who laid it all on the line, both on game days and in preparation.

Then there is Hall of Fame NFL coach and football broadcaster, John Madden. For many years on game days, whenever a prime, often times the most important game of the weekend was scheduled, you knew we would hear the broadcaster voices of the best tandem in the NFL: John Madden, along with his play-by-play partner, Pat Summerall. I can recall several instances over the years, when Madden gushed with praise on how much he loved so many things about Gary Clark. Here is one of those examples that I found.

Yes, Madden recognized the tangible, and intangible elements of Gary Clark’s game that I think absolutely make him a legit HOF’er.

Then there is the perspective of one of Gary’s former teammates, John Booty. Here is what he told me:

“I used to hear about and see Gary prior to competing against him and he was very impressive and tough. I saw he had no fear and made big plays. When I started playing against him I experienced his competitiveness. I saw first hand how fiery he was on the sideline, his reputation meaning he wanted to win! Then when we became teammates I saw that fire first hand and I was like ‘I see why he’s a great wide receiver’! His toughness was shown by John Madden and his numbers, all pros, pro bowls, and Super Bowl Championships shows that he wanted his team to win Championships while proved he was the best at his position. He should be in the Hall of Fame!”

I also wanted the perspective of another great Redskins wide receiver, Santana Moss, who told me the following:

“I believe Gary was one of the best to do it. In his time where there were two wideouts to lead a passing attack Gary was a leader amongst a leader being Art Monk’s ‘1b’. Although people would think Monk was the guy- which he was- but Gary made his opportunities greater just because you had to check or be aware of Clark’s attack at any moment in any game! I believe 8 out of 9 seasons Gary led his receiving core with catches and yards but was still considered the ‘Robin to Batman’ (Art Monk). After all, in those days 10,000 yards would’ve given you a shoe in at the ‘yellow jacket’ and I believe he left the game as one!”

No doubt very high praises from just two of the many who I’m sure share similar perspectives.

Yes, Gary Clark was a relentless, hard-working, top-achiever during his football playing days. And he continues to be one today, and shows no signs of slowing down as he is constantly trying to find ways to make himself, and others better. His obvious and consistent personal-growth mindset that I see countless evidences of today, is no doubt something that set him apart and helped elevate his game during his playing days.

Similar to how it was when Art Monk finally got his well-deserved and egregiously long overdue HOF induction, it’s also time for the HOF selection committee to once again do the right thing and please end another long overdue induction. Yes, it’s time for Gary Clark to join this special group and put on his yellow jacket in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Best hope for Redskins fans from this season: a new Stadium in DC

While this season's record and once realistic playoff hopes is quickly spiraling downhill with one devastating injury after another, the best news for Redskins fans from this season is the best case, dream scenario: the new stadium being built on the RFK lot. And the timing of this hopeful stadium news that broke over the weekend would seemingly be perfect, then enabling Snyder to part ways with Bruce Allen, who's organizational value in negotiating a stadium deal is probably his biggest asset and why he’s actually still here. And let me say that while I think Allen needs to go, please conduct it with class and appreciation. Take the high road, which is something this organization rarely does well. While it's indisputable that Allen has made many horrible personnel decisions along the way, I’ll make note to say he has actually done some good things as well. I like how he has made efforts to bring back many Redskins legends and keep them connected to the organization, via the "homecoming" game events. I also think Bruce has a level of respect around the league (that Vinny Cerrato never had!) and has overseen some savvy contract negotiations, while mostly keeping the team in good cap positions over the years. Then again, perhaps Eric Schaffer is the bigger factor in the cap stability. But while there have been some good cap-friendly contracts and shrewd negotiations over the years, perhaps the most important one that would impact the franchise for years to come? The "Kurt" Cousins debacle. I remain adamant in my position, that the Redskins needed to keep Cousins, and I believe, made a huge mistake in letting him go. Whether Bruce or perhaps GM Scot McCloughan at the time was indeed most influential for not giving Kirk what he proposed after the 2015 season, Bruce is still most responsible. And while not paying Cousins after 2015 remains a huge mistake that I think will have ripple effects for years, even more catastrophic and gut-wrenching is when I wonder if there could have been a way to figure out how to ensure that Sean McVay didn’t leave the building. A young, rapidly rising- possibly elite head coach. A guy who we had in our organization for 7 years. If only HE could be our head coach of the future- perhaps with Kirk Cousins as his QB. I digress. It’s too painful to ponder.

Yes, the negatives far outweigh the positives, and Allen’s tenure as team President absolutely cannot continue. What is the solution? While I would love for Snyder to somehow be able to identify and land a top-proven (or perhaps young up-and-coming) guy to be new President, who would then bring in a good GM and build from the top down, here is what I think is the most realistic, and perhaps most reasonable solution in the moment: Elevate Doug Williams to President, and Kyle Smith to GM, who oversees all the roster decisions. Perhaps Eric Schaffer as VP, or at least some front-office role higher than currently. Promote guys- good guys, from within. And then what about Jay Gruden? While I have long thought that Jay is an average coach and nothing special, he has amazingly- and unfortunately- had relative "success" (compared to Snyder era norm here!) with a cumulative .500 record since '15. It's a real tough conundrum to evaluate, in particular when the team has been ravaged by key injuries, which I believe is the biggest reason the wheels have fallen off this season. But on the flip side, Gruden has a big hand in why the game performance- against a putrid Giants team without OBJ- was so abysmal. I would hope that even an injured team would play inspired, high-energy football if they were well-coached, vs. that catastrophic performance. Still, the realistic solution may actually be giving Gruden another year (unless an obviously better HC scenario presents itself) to see what he may do with a- hopefully, more healthy roster. Another reason I think it's not only most realistic, but perhaps also most necessary Gruden stays: the QB situation! With reports now that Alex Smith's 2019 season (and perhaps career) is likely in jeopardy, that leaves us with Colt McCoy as the most viable QB option in 2019. Because the Redskins are on the hook for Smith's contract, they obviously can't afford to go out and sign a decent QB on the FA market. So while perhaps a new President and GM hires a new head coach, and then drafts a QB (perhaps a Will Grier?) high in the draft who starts from scratch, the most likely scenario is rolling with the most viable option in house, Colt McCoy. Think about this: how would it seem possible that McCoy could stay and be QB in '19- if not for his biggest supporter, HC Gruden being here as well. I gotta think that Gruden and McCoy are linked together. I don’t think there is any way you can roll with McCoy as QB without Jay Gruden. Yes, I think Gruden probably stays- perhaps out of necessity, and injury excuse asterisk.

But Bruce Allen absolutely needs to be out. Here's hoping Snyder makes the right key decisions, and that the best possible news from this now catastrophic season brings the fans fresh hope of the dream scenario: a new stadium on the RFK grounds.

Decision Time: Kirk Cousins

Last year during the offseason, I wrote about why the Redskins absolutely needed to sign Kirk Cousins to a long-term deal. There were basically two decisions that were being heavily weighed: sign to a long-term deal after his first full- and really good season- or, place the franchise tag on him, essentially creating more of a prove-it season, determining if he was deserving of a long-term, huge $ contract. The decision was made, and with no long-term deal being reached by the 7/15 deadline, the franchise tag was indeed placed on him for the 2016 season. 

In a lot of ways, the 2016 season for Cousins was even better than the 2015 season. He surpassed his 2015 yards (and Redskins QB record) total and fell just short of the elite and revered 5,000 passing yards mark, at a gaudy 4,917. Why elite, in terms of 5,000+ yards? Because the only QB's in NFL history to pass for 5,000+ yards are Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Dan Marino and Matthew Stafford. That's it. Cousins completed 67% of his passes, good for 8th in the NFL, and ahead of Aaron Rodgers. He was also 3rd overall in yards per attempt at 8.11, making the completion % that much more impressive. He was 13th overall with 25 TD passes, ahead of MVP candidate Matt Stafford. Led by Cousins, the high-octane offense certainly had no problems moving the ball, as they finished #2 overall in the NFL with 39.8 yards per drive. In total yards per game, the offense finished with a team record and staggering total of 6,454 yards, good for 3rd overall in the NFL. And I might add, if not for the red-zone offensive inefficiencies, the team point totals (and QB passes for Cousins) could have been a lot higher. And then in QB rating, Cousins was #7 overall at 97.2.

But perhaps even more impressive is when you take into consideration the advanced stats of several other key elements in evaluating QB's. Some of these, I had never even heard of until doing this expanded research! Now the first, and more commonly known is the overall "QBR", which takes into account several factors such as: passes dropped, passes thrown away intentionally, and scrambles and planned runs. Total QBR also has a "clutch" factor, for how a QB performs in high leverage situations. And beginning in 2016, QBR was also adjusted for strength of opponent. Then when we go beyond the QBR stat, there are several other advanced stats worth noting. The first is "DYAR", which is defense-adjusted yards above replacement. This is essentially the value of the QB's performance compared to replacement level, and is adjusted based on opponent and game situations, translated to total yardage. Cousins was ranked #3 overall in DYAR. Another stat is "DVOA", which is defense-adjusted value over average. These stats represent a QB's value per play, over an average QB in similar in-game situations. Cousins ranked #5 overall in this stat. 

Outside of these specific impressive stats for overall evaluation, I then came across some additional eye-popping categories that really jumped out to me. Al Galdi, one of my personal favorite local sports radio guys (also a die-hard Redskins and O's fan like myself!), is quite simply one of the best statisticians, and especially advanced analytics guys I know of. He put together some incredible factors to consider, as to how much better Kirk Cousins may be than looking at the initial surface of the most commonly known stats of evaluation. Besides some of the advanced stats I mentioned above, Galdi also references how Kirk led ALL NFL QB's in "air yards" in 2016. Galdi says,

"Air Yards are the total yards a football is thrown beyond the line of scrimmage to the point of reception.  The number is arrived at by subtracting Yards After Catch (YAC) from total passing yards.  The idea with tracking Air Yards is to differentiate between those quarterbacks who are Checkdown Charlies or benefit greatly from YAC from those quarterbacks who “earn” their passing yardage with accurate and downfield throwing.  Kirk’s 2,939 Air Yards per SportingCharts.com were 143 more than the next-best total (Drew Brees’ 2,796).  Remember this the next time you hear that Kirk is just a dink-and-dunk passer or is simply a product of the system or his weapons.  Kirk was 10th in the NFL in Air Yards in 2015 (2,258)."

The next stat that Galdi mentions that jumped out to me that I was not aware of is that Cousins faced the toughest schedule of opposing defenses that any QB faced during the 2016 season. He elaborates to say,

"Nine of the Redskins' 16 games were against teams that finished the season in the top 11 of the NFL in total defense: Pittsburgh (no. 11), the Giants twice (no. 2), Baltimore (no. 6), Philadelphia twice (no. 4), Minnesota (no. 9), Arizona (no. 3) and Carolina (no. 10). The Redskins faced just the 28th-toughest schedule in 2015. A lot of people like to discount Kirk's 2015 due to the opposition. Fine. Then upgrade his 2016 due to the opposition."

So now a big question is, how should Kirk Cousins be considered and "ranked" overall among the top NFL QB's? Should he be considered a top 10 QB? Or, perhaps even top 5? Where would the league analysts and GM's have him? No doubt, a tough answer. Personally, I don't think it's unreasonable to say that Cousins is not one of the top 5- elite QB's in the league. I also don't think it's necessarily unreasonable to say he's not in the top 10. Would most NFL coaches and GM's say they would take 5, or perhaps even 10 QB's ahead of Cousins if having their pick? Perhaps. This is a key factor. That said, do I think that one day, Cousins could widely be considered a top 10- possibly even a top 5 QB? Yes! At only 28, having played only 2 full seasons in the league, and showing continued improvement in his play, why not think he can get better? Though the stats aren't everything, they certainly help paint a good picture. I am personally hopeful, and think he can and will get even better. Besides his on the field success and improvement, he has the kinds of intangibles that I believe makes him the kind of guy you want to build your team around. He works extremely hard- on his body physically, in the film room, and on the field. He's a leader. And he's humble. One of the best windows I have personally benefitted from in trying to evaluate who Kirk Cousins is and how he thinks is simply by listening to his many weekly in-season interviews on 106.7 "The Fan" with Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier. There are little things I have picked up on that I think are impressive intangibles, such as the way he talks about his diet and sleep: What he eats, and when he allows himself "cheat meals". When he sleeps, and how much sleep he needs. He is no doubt very disciplined. In his interview immediately following the disappointing and devastating season ending loss to the Giants, Cousins said several things that caught my attention to enhance my feelings about him personally and his outstanding intangibles. One thing he said- and it was also how he said it- was how he wished he could just get right back at it, and begin relentless preparation for the next game- and the next season, right now. The loss stung. He was appropriately affected by it. And when talking about the game clinching INT, he completely took it on himself and accepted blame, talking about the way he threw it, and perhaps waiting too long and second guessing himself. He accepted it as a man. No blame shifting. He also talked about ways he believes he needs to improve his play. And when ending the call, he communicated his gratefulness and love to both Grant and Danny for the opportunity all season, and for the great times. Very articulate. Very genuine. And very humble. The kind of guy I would personally want to build my team around. 

Getting back to how he is currently "ranked" among the current NFL QB's. Even if he's not currently a "top 5" or "top 10" QB, what does the current NFL market say about his value? Does he deserve to be paid as a top 5 QB, in terms of what he has accomplished in his career vs. the current top 5 paid QB's? Now of course I would say no, as would most people. But that's not the point. One factor to consider is the current supply and demand of top QB talent. In this QB-driven league with so many teams desperately needing help, if Cousins is indeed made available on the open market, multiple teams would be clamoring for his services and likely create a bidding war. No doubt the market would likely get him paid "top 5" $ in this scenario. Next, with the rapidly increasing salary cap and thus contracts continually on the rise, the total amount that a "top" QB currently makes will soon not seem like as much in relative comparison to the salaries that the upward market trend will soon command. The key factor is more about the percentage of the teams cap space that the current QB market has and will command, which of course will make the total $ number a little higher than some of the comparable percentage of team cap deals that top QB's are currently paid. I have no doubt that in order for the Redskins to get a long-term deal with Cousins done, they need to have his cap percentage value be comparable to the current top 5 QB % range. And even going beyond this, it wouldn't shock me- primarily because of the mentioned supply and demand and increasing salary cap factors- if we see Cousins get the highest contract in the history of the NFL. And I will go on to say that if this is what it takes: even making Cousins the highest paid NFL player, the Redskins absolutely have to do it. The mega deal that Andrew Luck received last offseason, at 5 years and $122M and $87M guaranteed is the likely market range it will take to get a long-term deal done. 

So what do the Redskins do? What should they do? Today, February 15, 2017 is the first day that teams can assign franchise or transition tags. The official and critical two week window of opportunity begins now. By March 1st at 4PM, teams must apply one of these tag options. And then if a tag is indeed the first step, the Redskins would have until mid-July to work out a long-term deal. 

All signs seem to currently point to the Redskins applying one of the tags. And Cousins has said he is ok playing under the tag again if it comes to that. He has also said that if he had a long-term deal, he would have more "freedom to lead." My stance remains the same as it was last year, and I would say even more emphatic now than last year: the Redskins absolutely must sign Cousins to a mega, long-term deal. Sure, the possibility of a couple of high draft picks as compensation (perhaps from Kyle Shanahan with the 49ers) is somewhat enticing if offered. But the flip side risk in not retaining a highly successful- and I believe still improving- QB in this league is too substantial. For a franchise that has wandered in the QB-starved desert and had no stability at this crucial position for the better part of the past 25 plus years, they simply cannot afford to roll the dice on letting Cousins walk. Besides the risk of letting just Cousins potentially get away and not lock him up long-term, is how a decision like this would also have an organizational snowball effect. Let's say that Cousins is indeed tagged, leaving this uncertainty of his future in DC. I believe the impact of this also filters into the decisions of pending free agents of not only those who have been here (like Garcon and Jackson), but also for those who may consider coming here, when league-wide free agency begins on March 9th. If Cousins is here long-term, I would think it would make free agents more enticed to stay and come here- especially in seeing stability and continuity- whereas if there is no certainty of the future direction, I believe it makes these free agent decisions a lot more difficult.

Yes, I still trust in GM Scot McCloughan to ultimately do what he thinks is best. And I hope that what indeed would be his preference- Cousins here long-term- would happen without interference from anyone at the top and that all parties would be on the same page, and work hard towards swift and mutual resolution. The clock is ticking. And I believe the Redskins have no choice but to go all in and give Cousins what it will take to keep him here. For the long-term.