Recent rumors suggested that Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins demanded a trade out of Washington, preferably to the San Francisco 49ers. The rumor gained so much momentum that it influenced a number of mock drafts in the past 7-10 days.
Cousins was a recent guest on ESPN’s Adam Schefter Know Them From Adam podcast and spoke about the rumors.
“I did inquire if there was any interest in trading me to get an understanding of their perspective,” Cousins said. “The answer I got back was Mr. Snyder communicated his belief in me and desire for me to remain a Redskin.”
Cousins admitted he heard first hand about the trade from a shoe store employee asked him about the rumored trade demands while fitting Cousins’ wife for shoes.
“I laughed and thought, ‘I don’t know where that comes from because that wasn’t the case,'” Cousins said. “Somehow it got twisted to where an employee of the store is using the word demanded. That’s not the approach I took.”
Cousins and the Redskins have been in a contractual rut, one that has dominated headlines throughout the NFL offseason.
“This entire process from a contractual standpoint has been framed by the franchise tag rules,” Cousins explained.
“It hasn’t been framed by my market value. I would be content to go to the market and see what the value is and settle for what that is. But because of the tag rules and the team’s use of the tag, that just hasn’t taken place. … So until that system of the tag is removed from the equation or from the collective bargaining agreement altogether, that will frame the entirety of my agent’s approach.”
Cousins has been linked to the San Francisco 49ers due to his relationship with head coach Kyle Shanahan but Washington has stated its preference to keep him.
“In this league, things change so fast and players can get blindsided all the time with decisions,” Cousins said. “They’ll cut you on your birthday. They’ll cut you on the day your child is born. They’ll cut you on Christmas Eve. You never know what will happen.
“I’ll always keep an open mind so I won’t get blindsided, but from what I heard in conversations, I felt very much supported and felt the owner and president of the team want me to be the quarterback there and to be the quarterback there for a long time.”
While it has seemed as of late that Cousins is sour on the idea of remaining in Washington, he did acknowledge their high valuation of his talent.
“If a team has franchise tagged me two years in a row, it’s because they expect me to play at a high level,” Cousins said. “If we play at a very high level and if we win a Super Bowl next year, I’m pretty confident they’ll tag me and bring me back. If the season goes the way everyone wants it to and hopes it will, then let’s hope I’m getting tagged again. There’s still more of this story to write.”
Cousins also expressed excitement about playing with new free agent acquisition Terrelle Pryor.
“I want to play with a guy like Terrelle Pryor,” Cousins said. “That’s a great acquisition, a player that will help us a lot on offense. I’m excited about the players we have on offense. The line has played well for a couple years. We have some good players up and coming. … I’m excited about what’s in place.”