Kirk Cousins is going to have plenty of suitors if the Washington Redskins let him hit free agency next month, but one team continues to come up as the most likely destination for the 29-year-old quarterback.
The Denver Broncos have seemingly been a quarterback away from contending for a Super Bowl again since Peyton Manning retired after the 2015 season. It would make sense for them to make a big push to sign Cousins, and Peter King of The MMQB expects John Elway to do just that.
GM John Elway has made one mega-signing in his tenure: Peyton Manning, in 2012, when Elway was in desperate quarterback straits. To solve this problem again, I say Elway goes big. Cousins isn’t flawless, but he’s got seven or eight prime years left (he’s 29), and has put a premium on going somewhere he can win, somewhere with a good defense, and somewhere he can walk into the building every day excited about going to work. The Broncos, coming off a 5-11 year, haven’t had back-to-back losing seasons since 1971 and 1972, and my bet is on Elway, even at the ridiculous sum of something like $30 million a year, going hard after Cousins to make sure he doesn’t have to keep worrying about the position.
As King mentions, one potential issue with signing Cousins could mean Denver has to sacrifice some of the players that have made their defense one of the best in the NFL. Cornerback Aqib Talib is scheduled to count $12 million against the cap next season, and defensive lineman Derek Wolfe carries a cap hit of just under $11 million. Both have been big contributors with the Broncos, but they could be cut.
There’s still a chance that the Redskins could use the franchise tag on Cousins in an attempt to trade them, but Cousins is reportedly exploring ways to prevent that from happening.
Assuming Cousins does hit free agency, Elway will have competition from teams like the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns. However, the Broncos can obviously sell Cousins on something neither of those teams can — a winning culture. There have been rumblings that Cousins’ top choice is actually an NFC team, but Denver has to be at or near the top of his list.
