Washington Redskins Should Trade Kirk Cousins

By Joseph Crevier @JosephMCrevier on October 20, 2014

What a disaster this season has turned out to be for backup quarterback Kirk Cousins.

When Washington Redskins star Robert Griffin III dislocated his ankle in just the second week of action, fans nationwide were calling for Cousins as the potential savior of the franchise. Cousins immediately stepped in for Griffin during Washington’s Week 2 matchup vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars and managed to blow out the bottom-feeders from Florida. In this particular affair, Cousins dominated throwing for 25o yards, two touchdowns and a key zero interceptions.

All of the sudden, a quarterback controversy arose, debating whether Cousins or Griffin was more suited to be named the permanent starter. It even reached a point to where critics suggested that Washington move Griffin because they wholeheartedly believed Cousins’ performance against a historically awful Jaguars team, combined with his heroics last season, warranted it.

Of course, throwing in the towel on a third-year former top draft pick like Griffin would be foolish, so several NFL analysts brought upon the idea of potentially trading Cousins early on in the year to perhaps a team like the St. Louis Rams. At that point. coming off of Week 2 and even prior to that, Cousins’ trade value was through the roof.

By through the roof, I mean he was apparently worth the ever-so-valuable first-round draft pick, and I’m sure some desperate team would have been willing to forfeit that kind of hefty compensation.

Well, luckily no franchise made such an unbelievable offer because Cousins has exhibited why he is bound to be a lifetime backup in each and every week following Week 2. From that point, Cousins has thrown nine interceptions to his eight touchdowns, ultimately leading to his much-anticipated benching on Sunday vs. the mediocre Tennessee Titans and putting the spotlight on former college star Colt McCoy.

McCoy was wildly impressive, completing 11 of his 12 passes, throwing for one touchdown and putting up an incredible 138.9 passer rating. Oh, and McCoy also led Washington on a game-winning drive to, finished by kicker Kai Forbath with the field goal.

So, where does Cousins go from here? I’m sure Washington is much more willing to trade Cousins now that his play has plummeted. Keeping him around will only cause issues moving forward; McCoy is clearly the more talented backup at this point, so there is no point in holding onto Cousins when there are plenty of teams out there that can use a backup quarterback.

Unfortunately for Washington, though, the compensation will be held to a minimum. In retrospect, the franchise should have traded Cousins a long time ago to avoid the controversy played up by the media, but they are now looking at a fifth-round pick at the very best. Realistically, I do not see a team forfeiting anything other than a sixth or seventh-rounder at this point.

Joseph Crevier covers the New York Knicks for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, @JosephMCrevier, and Facebook or add him to your network on Google.