Steve Smith believes Kirk Cousins cost himself $10-20 million in loss to Cowboys

Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins turned in a mediocre performance in Thursday night’s 38-14 blowout loss to the Cowboys, and Washington is now on the outside looking in as it relates to the NFL playoff picture.

Cousins completed 26 of 37 passes in the loss, but threw two interceptions, and also fumbled twice — losing one of them. The Redskins signal-caller was also sacked four times, which came on the heels of the six the Giants managed on Thanksgiving Day.

Turnovers, sacks and ball placement plagued Cousins in the game, and the Redskins offense failed to sustain drives throughout the NFC East matchup. Their lack of success on the offensive side of the ball was surprising, being that they were going up against a struggling defensive unit that ranked 24th in scoring defense (24.5 ppg) and 22nd in total defense (348.3 yards per game).

Cousins’ performance in the game prompted much debate among NFL Network’s “NFL GameDay” crew, and former receiver Steve Smith was very candid in addressing how he felt about the Redskins quarterback’s showing in Thursday’s game after it was over. His comments followed Marshall Faulk criticizing Cousins over what the former running back viewed to be a lack of leadership. Here’s what Smith had to say after Faulk said his piece:

“Based on what he’s saying, and you want that leadership, I’m gonna say it right now, that probably cost him between 10 and 20 million dollars off that contract, because he showed that he is not a true leader that demands that kind of money,” Smith said.

“That probably cost him between $10-20 million dollars.”

@89SteveSmith grades Kirk Cousins’ #TNF performance.

📺: @NFLGameDay https://t.co/fAgJWuaBUL

— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) December 1, 2017

Smith’s comments may seem like a hot take at first, but it’s not about how you start, but how you finish. And while Cousins still has four more games to prove he’s worth the big bucks, his team has lost three of its last four contests, which might give the Redskins — or other NFL teams — reason to pump the brakes on awarding him a large contract.

The jury is still out on Cousins, but the clock is ticking, and he’s going to need to turn in a MVP-caliber performance at least one more time before season’s end if he wants to command a big payday in the offseason.