Kirk Cousins To Cleveland Browns Rumors Picking Up Steam

Kirk Cousins to The Cleveland Browns? These rumors are picking up steam thanks to the Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole.

Kirk Cousins taking snaps for the Cleveland Browns in 2017. Yes, it’s unlikely, but ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi may have to update his quarterback tracker.

Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole tweeted that Cousins would be open to playing for teams other than the Washington Redskins, or the San Francisco 49ers, a team coached by Kyle Shanahan, Cousin’s former offensive coordinator in DC.

ESPN scribe John Kleim responded to Cole, replying that he “was told [Cousins] wouldn’t sign a (long-term deal) with anyone but Sf now. Knows what he has there with [Shanahan]. Another could trade and hope to convince,” via Twitter.

Enter the Browns. Much like they did with Jamie Collins, Cleveland could trade for Cousins–they have the draft picks to do so–and throw a vault Scrooge McDuck gold coins at him to convince him to stay.

The Redskins are poised to slap the $23.94 million franchise tag on Cousins on Wednesday. Yahoo’s Charles Robinson took an in-depth looked at how the Redskins financially botched the handling of a signal caller who has the traits of franchise quarterback.

"The Redskins can franchise tag Cousins in 2017 ($23.94 million) and transition tag him ($28.78 million) in 2018, paying out $72.67 million over three years – still more than any player has ever earned in three years. But under the transition tag in 2018, Cousins would have the right to negotiate with other clubs. And if the Redskins matched, they’d be on the hook for a brand-spanking new deal likely to come with at least $50 million in guaranteed money."

If your the Redskins, you can’t afford to let him walk whenever he does leave town.

Pundits and scribes have spent the better part of a week talking about whether the No. 12 overall pick would be worth Jimmy Garappolo? Forget that. Isn’t Cousins a more proven commodity. The Browns finally get their quarterback, and Washington gets the chance to rebuild with the No. 12 overall selection in this spring’s draft.

Related Story: Why The Browns Shouldn't Consider Cousins

The odds of this happening have to be worse than winning the lottery. After so many years of disfunction at the position for the Browns, it’s crazy to think a franchise quarterback who’s thrown 54 touchdowns against 23 interceptions could be delivered to the HQ in Berea.

Just when you thought it couldn’t be any more obvious how screwed up the Browns are at quarterback, Andrew Hawkins further depressed the fan base when he told Sirius XM NFL Radio how the quarterback situation took its toll.

If it affected Hawkins, it’s certainly affecting other players in the locker room.

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Adding Cousins, or Garappolo would change that mentality, at least for now, as players who can come in and start from day one.