Another year, another Kirk Cousins contract kerfuffle. Cousins will be the first NFL quarterback to play consecutive seasons on the franchise tag, having not yet agreed to a long-term deal with Washington. Contract offers have been made; trade rumors have percolated. Cousins may or may not want to be in Washington beyond the current season, and the team may or may not want him. But here’s what we know for sure: Cousins has been damn good for basically a season and a half.

Over Cousins’ last 26 regular season games, he’s averaged 294.7 yards per week and 8.32 per attempt while completing 68.8 percent of his throws. He’s tossed 48 touchdown passes and just 15 interceptions, plus he’s rushed for eight scores. He ranked third in the league last season in both passing yards (4917) and Y/A (8.1), and he finished seventh in passer rating (97.2). At this stage, it’s tough to argue that he isn’t an upper-tier NFL quarterback. For fantasy purposes, he’s been a top-10 QB in back-to-back seasons, finishing fifth last year and eighth in 2015.

If you need a reason to worry about Cousins entering 2017, look to his supporting cast. Continuity is a big deal in the NFL, and it’s lacking in Washington’s offense. Cousins has a new offensive coordinator this season, with QB coach Matt Cavanaugh taking over for Sean McVay. Head coach Jay Gruden will resume play-calling duties after ceding that responsibility to McVay two years ago. Additionally, Washington lost its two leading receivers from last season, as Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson both relocated via free agency. Those two combined for 135 catches and 2046 yards on 216 targets last year.

These are not small losses. Fantasy football is a plug-and-play game, but the real-life version is somewhat more complicated. Washington’s offensive line returns intact, which certainly helps. This team also made a splashy (and curiously cheap) addition to its receiving corps, signing one of last season’s more impressive breakout players.

Terrelle Pryor, now paired with a legit quarterback

Pryor had a remarkable year for Cleveland in 2016, considering the team context. Seven different players attempted passes for the Browns last season (including Pryor himself) and the team averaged just 204.0 passing yards per game, ranking No. 28 in the league. Despite dealing with a parade of sketching passers — RGIII, McCown, Whitehurst, et al. — Pryor somehow finished with 77 catches for 1007 yards on 140 targets. Cleveland was his fifth NFL stop, and things had finally fallen into place.

And then the Browns didn’t sign him to a long-term deal, or tag him. Pryor was linked to various teams in free agency and reportedly received multi-year offers, but he ultimately chose to sign a short-term prove-it deal in Washington (one year, $6 million plus incentives). After the departures of both Garcon and D-Jax, Washington obviously had a serious need for receiving help. Pryor has upgraded his QB situation in a massive way, and he remains in line for a huge target total. Assuming he can remain healthy, he’s put himself in a perfect situation to get paid in 2018.

Cousins seems plenty excited about Pryor’s potential in Washington:

“Terrelle [Pryor] is really talented running down the field. I’ve been very impressed with his down-the-field skills with his speed. I think being such a long strider, he can really cover ground when it doesn’t look like he is. I want to throw to him every chance I get on those deeper routes.”

Don’t bet against Pryor improving on last year’s numbers. He’s not exactly cheap at the draft table (ADP 46.7, WR20), but it’s not crazy to hope for a top-12 positional finish. Four members of the Yahoo fantasy crew like Pryor to outperform his draft position, and no one slots him outside the top-25 WRs. (Brad Evans ranks Pryor as if he worked for Rosenhaus Sports, not for Yahoo.) Pryor is a player to target, an explosive talent with a promising setup.

View photos Terrelle Pryor gets most of the buzz, but Jamison Crowder could end up with most of the catches. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) More

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