One of the most popular potential destinations for Cousins is rumored to be the San Francisco 49ers. Kyle Shanahan, the Redskins former offensive coordinator, worked with Cousins during his time with the team and has expressed an interest in working with him on multiple occasions. The 49ers are one of the only teams that has the assets necessary to complete a deal for Cousins, and some think that it may be a possibility. Walter Cherepinsky of WalterFootball.com discussed the possibility of a deal earlier this week, and said the following of the situation.
Cousins, however, is a different story. Shanahan worked with Cousins in Washington, so the familiarity he has with his former signal-caller has to make the current Redskin even more appealing. Unfortunately for the 49ers, Cousins will be more difficult to obtain. The Redskins can just apply the franchise tag to Cousins, who could still negotiate with other teams if that were the case. The 49ers could then sign Cousins, but it would cost them two first-round picks.
That may seem like a steep price at first, but I don’t think it is upon further inspection. The 49ers would really be dealing one first-round pick for Cousins – their 2018 selection – because they’d be using their 2017 first-rounder on Cousins rather than Alabama defensive lineman Jonathan Allen or one of the rookie quarterbacks. Thus, this trade would only hurt the 49ers if they once again finish with a top-three selections despite having Cousins, prompting them to miss out on blue-chip quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen, or perhaps LSU edge rusher Arden Key or Texas A&M wide receiver Christian Kirk. If, however, San Francisco improves to at least 8-8 with Cousins, all it would be giving up to Washington would be a selection in the 14-17 range next year, and if Cousins turns out to be a franchise quarterback, it would be well worth it, as he could get the 49ers into the playoffs in 2018 and beyond once the roster is rebuilt.
In this case, I would tend to agree with Cherepinsky. If the 49ers are that desperate for a quarterback and offer two first round picks, the Redskins would have a tough time passing up that sort of deal. While the picks that they receive would not be guaranteed to succeed, Cousins’ success is not guaranteed either. If the team does move on from Cousins, they would have a few options for what they could do in terms of free agency and the draft.