The Redskins place exclusive franchise tag on Kirk Cousins

The Washington Redskins have officially placed the exclusive franchise tag on QB Kirk Cousins a day before the deadline to tag players. With the exclusive tag, Cousins and his agent Mike McCartney will not be able to negotiate trades with other teams, and the Redskins control any trade scenario. The price of the tags will be the same due to Cousins be given the non-exclusive franchise tag last season($19.955 million), and getting a 120% increase($23.94 million) for the 2nd tag of his career this year.

Cousins has previously said he would sign the tag, and would be willing to play on it if a long-term deal can not be worked out. There have been reports claiming that if traded, Cousins would prefer to be reunited with his former Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers hired Shanahan, and will be in the market for a QB this year.

The Redskins will have until July 15th to work out a long-term deal with Cousins. If they are unable to sign a new deal, or trade him by then, he will play a 1 year deal on the franchise tag. The Redskins would then have to decide whether they want to franchise tag him for a third consecutive year at a much higher cost($34.47 million) if they can’t work out a new deal after the 2017 season.