Kirk Cousins and Josh Norman, who’s worth the money to the Redskins?

QB Kirk Cousins is the highest paid player on the Redskins for 2016. Josh Norman has the richest cornerback contract in the league.

While there are still whispers that Cousins is not worth his $19.9 million franchise value — whispered perhaps from the very top of the team — there is no such talk with Norman.

The Redskins instantly took him off the market with a rich, long-term deal with $36.5 million guaranteed.

Like Cousins, Norman had a breakout season only in his fourth year when he was a very good corner on a very good defense. So why the long-term deal for Norman, but none yet for Cousins?

My friend (I met him once) Rich Tandler put his finger on it in his post to Real Redskins today.

______________________________

“The Redskins threw 30 touchdown passes last year (Kirk Cousins 29, Colt McCoy 1). That was the most they have had in a season since 1991. But they also gave up 30 TD passes, making three of the last four seasons where they have allowed 30 or more touchdowns through the air. If you have to put on your best offensive performance in 25 years just to break even with what the other side is doing, something has to change. That’s why they wrote out the big check for Josh Norman.”
______________________________

Desperation on defense is a big factor, but not the only one.

Norman has the number of starts (38) where coaches are comfortable enough with the player’s development that they make long-term commitments.

Cousins has fewer than 30 NFL starts. He will hit the coaching comfort zone mid-season.

The Redskins have 10 days to lock him into a long term contract. They would be wise to do so. But Hog Heaven does not see GM Scot McCloughan as the main obstacle to reaching agreement.

We sense that team owner Daniel Snyder is still amazed his team won the division with someone not named Robert Griffin III. Thus, he still needs convincing that last year was no fluke.

Delay is costly. Events are working to Cousins’ favor. And yes, we assume no falloff in Capt. Kirk’s performance.

Cousins vs. Snyder

The only difference between Cousins’ 2015 performance versus 2014 is that Coach Jay Gruden stuck with him for the full season.

Have doubts? Check this out.

Cousins started six games in 2014. He finished five of them after Gruden benched him for the season in the second half of the Titans game. His start in 2015 was worse. Compare his six-game stats for 2015 to 2014.

In 2014 with new coaching, the Redskins still hoped RGIII would regain his rookie form. By 2015, the coaching staff, if not the owner, saw no alternative to Cousins. They backed him as he struggled.

The move paid off handsomely for the team and focus has shifted to the defense with Norman’s huge deal and the re-signing of Junior Galette, the pass rushing talent the Redskins sought since the 1980s.

EXPOSED!

But the Redskins are exposed at quarterback. Cousins is a free agent in 2017. His performance could fall off and another team would still offer him $18 to $20 million.

And it isn’t a question of whether he is worth “Aaron Rodgers money.” Heck, Andrew Luck is not worth Aaron Rodgers money, but Luck just became the highest paid player in the NFL. With future rising salary caps, Cousins gains by playing well and waiting out his team.

When Kirk Cousins saw that contact Andrew Luck got https://t.co/es2uC4oqjj

— Commanders (@ChrisWorthy_) June 29, 2016

The only significant veteran QBs who to hit the free agent market in 2017 will be Cousins and Drew Brees, who will be 38 in January 2017.

We’ve already said a deal will get done at the right time and for the right number, but that number will be closer to Cousins’ figure than to the team’s. The Andrew Luck deal settled that. The Redskins should be more concerned with the contract length.

Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson hit the free agent market in 2020, along with a handful of other big-name, aging veterans. But Rodgers and Wilson are threats to reset the market value for veteran quarterbacks. The ‘Skins cannot afford to be caught in the open.

If Cousins want to re-enter the free agent market that year, he may have to be flexible on his salary demands. Right now he’s holding firm to be compensated for passing up that opportunity.