Kirk Cousins has no qualms about playing for the Washington Redskins on a year-to-year basis.
The Redskins offered the quarterback — who will be 29 in August — a multi-million contract in May, just days after the NFL Draft. This deal would have made Cousins at least the second-highest-paid player in NFL history in terms of average yearly salary, and also included the highest fully guaranteed sum upon signing for a quarterback upon signing ($53 million).
The deal also would have included $72 million in injury guarantees.
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However, Cousins turned down the deal, saying he prefers to return to play for Washington for his sixth season this fall without agreeing to any type of long-term contract.
“It was closer than people would think,” Cousins said in a radio interview on 106.7 The Fan on Tuesday. “Even up to a week ago, I was still praying over whether we should send an offer … but ultimately I just felt peace on not making an offer and leaving it up to the team … based on their offers being able to go from there and then the deadline passed and play the season out. That’s what I felt the most at peace about so that’s what we ended up doing.”
Redskins president Bruce Allen released the following statement on Twitter on Monday afternoon regarding Cousins’ decision to reject the team’s offer:
Last season, Cousins finished with 406 pass completions out of 606 attempts for 4,917 yards (8.1 passing yards on average) and a 67 percent passer rating. He also finished with 25 passing touchdowns, 4 rushing touchdowns and 12 interceptions and 96 rushing yards.
Over his career, Cousins has a 72-42 touchdown-interception ratio, 12,113 passing yards for a 93.6 passer rating and a 65.9 completion percentage.
“If I’m getting tagged a third time, that means this season went really, really well and that would be a beautiful thing,” he said.
PHOTO: LANDOVER, MD – OCTOBER 25: Quarterback Kirk Cousins #8 of the Washington Redskins drops back to pass in the second quarter of a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at FedExField on October 25, 2015 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Matt Hazlett/Getty Images)
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