Mike Shanahan: 49ers Tried to Trade No. 2 Pick to Washington for Kirk Cousins in 2017

There has been speculation over the years about a potential reunion between Kyle Shanahan and Kirk Cousins, but it may have come close to being a reality when Shanahan was first hired as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.

Mike Shanahan, Kyle's father, told The Athletic's Alec Lewis that Kyle wanted to trade the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NFL draft to Washington for Cousins.

"He knew Kirk knew his system, and he knew the type of guy Kirk was," Mike said. "But (Washington) wouldn't even return the phone call."

This was at a pivot point in Cousins' career. He was given the franchise tag for the second consecutive year by Washington and the two sides were unable to agree to terms on a long-term deal.

Given the money and cap space it would have required to use a third straight franchise tag, Cousins was likely going to be playing out the string in Washington before hitting unrestricted free agency after the 2017 season.

Kyle Shanahan was hired by the 49ers after the 2016 Atlanta Falcons had a historic offensive season with him as offensive coordinator.

San Francisco was a mess at this point in time after missing the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, including a 2-14 record in 2016. The team cycled through three different head coaches during that period (Jim Harbaugh in 2014; Jim Tomsula in 2015; Chip Kelly in 2016).

Cousins and Kyle Shanahan knew each other well from their time together in Washington. Kyle was the team's offensive coordinator for Cousins' first two seasons in 2012 and 2013.

It wasn't until the 2015 season that Cousins became Washington's full-time starting quarterback. He threw for 9,083 yards, 54 touchdowns and completed 68.3 percent of his pass attempts in 32 starts from 2015 to '16.

Thinking about the sliding-doors moment if Washington decided to trade Cousins for the No. 2 pick is fascinating.

The Minnesota Vikings would have had to find a different answer at quarterback because he wouldn't have been available to sign with them as a free agent in March 2018. They actually went 13-3 and reached the NFC Championship Game with Case Keenum as their starter.

Normally that type of success would prevent a team from being in contention for a top quarterback in the draft, but 2018 was the year that saw Lamar Jackson go to the Baltimore Ravens with the final pick of the first round. Minnesota took cornerback Mike Hughes with its first selection at No. 30 overall.

In this scenario, Washington likely would have taken a quarterback. Mitchell Trubisky was the first one taken in the 2017 draft by the Chicago Bears, who made a trade with the 49ers to move up one spot.

The 2017 draft class, of course, also featured Patrick Mahomes going No. 10 to the Kansas City Chiefs and Deshaun Watson going to the Houston Texans at No. 12. Both teams traded up to get those players.

We'll never know what Washington's draft board really looked like at that time. It's not implausible Mahomes or Watson was its top-ranked quarterback in the class.

The 49ers wouldn't have traded for Jimmy Garoppolo during the 2017 season, and they may have been too good with Cousins at quarterback in Shanahan's first two seasons to end up where they were in the 2019 draft when they got Nick Bosa at No. 2 and Deebo Samuel at No. 36.

Things certainly didn't work out for San Francisco early in the 2017 draft. Its first five picks were Solomon Thomas, Reuben Foster, Ahkello Witherspoon, C.J. Beathard and Joe Williams.

The class looks a lot better because the 49ers hit big on their first pick in the fifth round when they took a tight end out of Iowa named George Kittle.

It's not impossible to envision a scenario where Shanahan at least tries to pursue Cousins as his quarterback in 2024. There are still questions about Brock Purdy's long-term viability as a starter going into this season.

Cousins is entering the final season of his contract with the Vikings. The team has been very coy when asked about the possibility of bringing back the 35-year-old next year.