Inside Kirk Cousins’ Season of Uncertainty

ASHBURN, Va. — The moment turned into internet gold.

The Washington Redskins had just defeated the Green Bay Packers 42-24 on November 20, and Kirk Cousins, the quarterback in limbo, found Redskins general manager Scot McCloughan on the sideline. “How do you like me now?!” he shouted. “How do you like me now?!” McCloughan reached for a celebratory handshake but instead received a robust hand-slap and head-rub.

A more private moment from earlier that week revealed much more about what it’s like to be Cousins this season.

The quarterback and McCloughan crossed paths in the hallway at Redskins Park.

“Can we catch up for a minute?” Cousins asked.

“Sure. Let’s go in my office,” McCloughan replied.

What followed was a discussion similar to others the quarterback and general manager have had since March, when the Redskins decided to place the franchise tag on Cousins instead of giving him a long-term contract.

Cousins, who will be out of term on his contract again at the end of the season, was playing well. But he couldn’t be sure whether that was enough.

“Where do things stand?” he asked.

“You are a football player,” McCloughan told him. “I’m looking for football players—guys who have strong character, work hard and put the team first. If you keep doing that, good things will happen.”

The words were reassuring. Cousins knew from studying McCloughan’s style that they weren’t empty.

“He’s one of the biggest reasons why I feel great about being a Redskin,” Cousins says. “He’s the biggest reason, along with Coach [Jay] Gruden, that I’m playing in the first place. He had to make a tough stand to say, ‘I think we should play Kirk.’ He’s always been in my corner, and that’s a really good thing for me.”

For Cousins to remain in Washington beyond this season, McCloughan and Gruden will have to stay in his corner. And that appears to be a given.

Cousins has thrown for the second-most yards (4,360) in the NFL. His passer rating (98.3) is the sixth-best. It would be difficult for the Redskins to find a better quarterback. Joe Theismann and Matthew McConaughey are among many who have endorsed him.

But as the Redskins lost three of their last four games, Cousins’ future remained unsettled. He had one of his worst performances of the season Monday in a loss to the Carolina Panthers. The 7-6-1 Redskins will need help making it to the playoffs.

So whether Cousins has support from high in the Redskins organization remains to be seen. It is team president Bruce Allen who makes sure every one of Dan Snyder’s pennies is well spent. And it is Snyder, who has governed more like a fan than an owner at times, who could overrule all on a whim.

All that Cousins can do about it is beat the Chicago Bears and New York Giants. And hope.

     

After practice, Cousins walks out to the players’ parking lot. He steps into his 16-year-old GMC Savana conversion van, parked a few spots away from a Bentley Bentayga, a Maserati Ghibli Q4 and a Mercedes S 65 AMG. He bought the van from his grandmother for $5,000 a couple of years ago. He also has a pickup truck as part of an agreement with a local dealership, but he likes driving the van.

He dreams about buying a nice car one day.

He drives five minutes to a townhouse he rents from former Redskins offensive tackle Chris Samuels. His lease is for one year.

The place is fine for a quarterback in limbo. The living room gets a little cramped when Cousins has teammates over for Thursday night Bible study, though. And Cousins’ wife, Julie, would like a fenced-in yard so Bentley, their goldendoodle, can run. Someday, they hope soon, they will need a little more space if their family should grow.

Bark Ball 2016 in DC! Great event for a great cause. Bentley decided to hit the town with us

A photo posted by Kirk Cousins (@kirk.cousins) on Jun 11, 2016 at 4:59pm PDT

For about a year now, Kirk and Julie have been studying nearby areas where they might buy. They search Zillow together and think about options. What do they want in a house? Where can they find the type of house in which they would be happy for a long time? Which school systems are best? Can they get to where they frequently need to go easily enough? What are the demographics of each neighborhood?

It could be any one of the Virginia towns of Ashburn, Reston or Leesburg. 

Or maybe their next home will be hundreds of miles away. Imagine following the path of Robert Griffin III and going to the Cleveland Browns. The Jets should be in the quarterback market. Broadway Kirk? Cousins grew up in a suburb of Chicago—might he return home to the Bears? Could he envision living in Silicon Valley and wearing San Francisco 49ers colors?

Kirk and Julie like Northern Virginia. And Cousins has immersed himself in being a Redskin. When he was drafted in 2012, he wanted to know everything he could about his new team. His uncle Bill McClaren knows a lot about football, so Cousins asked him if he could research Redskins history for …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com