Kirk Cousins Has Earned Redskins' Money Despite Missing the Playoffs

I get it, Washington Redskins fans. You feel the need to blame somebody, and in this day and age, the quarterback is usually that guy. He's either the hero or the patsy, with no middle ground. 

But Kirk Cousins shouldn't be a hero or a patsy. He's just a good quarterback on a good team that would be a heck of a lot worse without him. 

Right now, you might not want to imagine the Redskins giving Cousins a huge new contract in the weeks or months to come. You might not even want to think about the possibility of general manager Scot McCloughan slapping Cousins with the franchise tag, which wouldn't handcuff the two parties long-term, but would cost the team about $24 million in 2017 alone. 

You're allowed to be mad at Cousins for the fact he led the offense to just 10 points in a season-ending Week 17 loss to the New York Giants, capping it off with a silly first-down interception. And you're allowed to be frustrated with the team for losing four of its last six games to miss the playoffs by a half-game margin. 

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Yet the reality is Cousins is clearly the best quarterback option the Redskins have entering the 2017 offseason, so the front office would be foolish to let him go. 

While this loss and the final month of the season will rightly leave a bad taste in many mouths, it's important to remember Cousins is only completing his second full season as a starter. By all indications, he's yet to reach his potential.

And that's promising when you consider the man finished the season ranked in the top eight in completion percentage, adjusted yards per attempt and passer rating. According to Pro Football Focus, he finished the season with 39 completions on passes that traveled 20-plus yards, which tied for first in the league with Andrew Luck. He's good under pressure, he rarely takes sacks and he's led the Redskins to back-to-back winning seasons. 

Cousins' main problem? He has lacked consistency. The average NFL passer rating this season is just above 90.0. Cousins finished the season with a rating of 97.2, and yet he posted a rating between 90 and 100 in just one game all year. He posted a sub-80.0 rating in three of his final five games, including Sunday's stinker against the Giants. In the 19-10 do-or-die loss, he threw two interceptions, took four sacks and failed to see open and exasperated receivers time after time.

There were moments this year when he became unstoppable, and other times when he became unwatchable.

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So he's far from perfect, and although he's only 28, there's a chance he'll never become elite. There's even a chance he'll soon regress, and a poor Week 17 performance probably cost him several million dollars. But the Redskins can't afford not to give him another shot.

I mean, do you have any better ideas? 

The Houston Texans learned the hard way this season that franchise-caliber quarterbacks don't hit free agency. By allowing Cousins to walk as a 28-year-old free agent this offseason, the Redskins would risk becoming that team that let a franchise quarterback get away in what has already become the era of the franchise quarterback. 

Not only that, but they'd also be left searching for a replacement capable of filling Cousins' shoes immediately. After all, competitive windows only remain open so long, and core players Trent Williams, DeSean Jackson, Ryan Kerrigan and Josh Norman are all approaching or over 30. 

There's no time to draft and groom a quarterback—a strategy that makes little sense without a high draft pick or much trade ammunition—and it's impossible to envision the Redskins saving much money and/or finding an upgrade on the open market. 

Anybody think that offense will be better off next year with a top draft prospect like Mitch Trubisky or DeShone Kizer under center? That's assuming they could even land either of those guys in the draft. What about the unproven Jimmy Garoppolo? Or the injury-prone Tony Romo? Or the unreliable Jay Cutler? Those guys aren't as good as Cousins at this point, and they'll cost draft picks in addition to a pretty penny.

So this is simple. McCloughan and owner Daniel Snyder have to forget about the frustrating way the 2016 season ended and start working with Cousins and his agent, Mike McCartney, in order to ensure Cousins remains a Redskin.

"He belongs in the NFL as a starter," Redskins head coach Jay Gruden stated after Sunday's loss, according to ESPN.com's John Keim, "and hopefully it's here."

In a perfect world, the team buys itself some payroll wiggle room and avoids a potential 2018 personnel disaster by signing Cousins to a long-term deal, but Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported earlier this season that if push comes to shove, it's prepared to use the franchise tag again. 

Right now, few of you are shouting, "Pay the man!" But remove emotion from the equation and take a broad look at what Cousins and the Redskins have accomplished the last two years. It's obvious what Washington must do. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.