Redskins QB Cousins signs $19.95M tender


Lool for Kirk Cousins to air it out against the Giants secondary. (Jeffrey G. Pittenger-USA TODAY Sports)
(Jeffrey G. Pittenger-USA TODAY Sports)

Kirk Cousins signed the one-year, $19.95 million tender offer from the Washington Redskins, who applied the franchise tag to the pending free agent quarterback on Tuesday.

Cousins will have a cap hit greater than those of Russell Wilson, Cam Newton and Aaron Rodgers in 2016 if the two sides fail to come to agreement on a long-term contract by July 15. Cousins, represented by agent Mike McCartney, is open to a deal to stay in Washington where he overtook Robert Griffin III as the starter in 2015, leading the Redskins to the NFC East title.

Cousins could enter the offseason with the highest base salary in the NFL. Currently, Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh has the largest base salary for the 2016 season ($23.485 million) but Miami opened talks to renegotiate that deal — a six-year, $114 million pact signed in March 2015.

With Cousins under contract, the Redskins don’t have to sweat a holdout or limited attendance for offseason workouts. It is common for players designated with the franchise tag to avoid offseason conditioning at the team facility and often even skip mandatory segments of minicamp.