Former Washington head coach Jay Gruden recently spoke on how he believes ex-team president Bruce Allen blew an opportunity to get great value for Kirk Cousins in trade before he was allowed to walk out the door scot free in free agency.
Appearing on the Kevin Sheehan Show, Gruden said he thinks Washington could’ve landed a massive haul from the San Francisco 49ers for Cousins.
However, Allen and owner Dan Snyder not wanting to trade Cousins to Kyle Shanahan played a huge role in the deal not being completed.
“Obviously dealing with the Shanahans was something that they did not want to do,” Gruden said per Jake Russell of the Washington Post. “I don’t think that they could stomach having Kirk Cousins be successful for Kyle Shanahan… and I think there was still some hope that we could re-sign him.”
By 2017 it was evident that Cousins wasn’t signing a long-term deal for whatever reason.
Shanahan was Washington’s offensive coordinator from 2010-2013 while his father Mike Shanahan was the head coach and executive vice president. It was Mike Shanahan who drafted Cousins in 2012 in the fourth round. The Shanahan’s were fired towards the end of the 2013 season after a power struggle with Allen.
It was long rumored that Shanahan had interest in getting Cousins when he became the head coach of the 49ers in 2017.
Allen and Snyder allegedly couldn’t fathom a Cousins-Shanahan reunion working. Instead Washington placed a franchise tag on Cousins in 2016 and 2017. Then, Allen traded for Alex Smith signaling Cousins to become a free agent in 2018.
Cousins is the first and only quarterback franchise tagged back-to-back years.
Cousins signed the largest contract in NFL history at the time with the Minnesota Vikings. By that time the 49ers had traded for Jimmy Garoppolo and signed him to a mega five-year extension.
Washington did receive a third-round compensatory draft pick for losing Cousins in 2019. The pick ultimately turned into running back Bryce Love and guard Wes Martin following a trade with the Buffalo Bills.
Neither Love nor Martin are currently on Washington’s roster. Meanwhile, Smith, who was supposed to replace Cousins, played 18 games over three seasons in large due to a devastating career-altering leg injury in 2018. That’s a far cry from what could have been if Washington traded Cousins to the 49ers.
