So, in all likelihood, Cousins will return for his second season as a starter. But any remaining suspense involves the matter of how the Redskins will keep him in burgundy and gold.

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McCloughan said he would prefer to work out a multi-year deal. But it’s very possible that the Redskins could wind up having to use the franchise tag to keep the quarterback off the open market.

Which option is the best?

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A multi-year deal would likely mean more desirable salary cap situation for Washington, which is expected to have about $12.7 million in cap space prior to restructuring any deals or making any cuts. It’s likely that the terms of a multi-year deal would call for Cousins to earn an average salary of between $17 million and $20 million. The Redskins could structure the deal in a way that Cousins’s cap hit for 2016 would come to between $8 and $13 million.

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That’s better than the cap hit of around $20 million that using the franchise tag would lead to. (The Redskins could use the franchise tag to retain Cousins’s services anywhere from Feb. 16 to March 1). The team would seemingly only go that route if they are unable to work out a multi-year deal before the franchise-tag deadline and if they’re worried about another team swooping in during free agency and luring Cousins away.

But, is there a benefit to franchising Cousins rather than locking him up for multiple years?

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Some league insiders, and a number of fans, believe that waiting one more year to sign Cousins to a multiple-year contract is the smarter thing to do. They point to the fact that Cousins doesn’t have a long track record of success because the first three seasons of his career featured minimal playing time and uneven performances. They also note that Cousins didn’t seem to round into form until the final two months of this past season, and so, they would rather see Washington use the franchise tag, have Cousins prove himself one more year, and then award him a big pay day if he earned it.

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However, there are drawbacks to using the franchise tag on Cousins this year, and trying to lock him up long-term next year. His asking price could increase even more, and Washington could wind up having to use the franchise tag again, which would mean another hefty salary-cap hit. And, the Redskins must devote a nice chunk of cash in the 2017 offseason to signing Jordan Reed to a new contract as well, if they don’t extend him at some point this offseason.

And so from that standpoint, taking care of Cousins now would probably bring more benefits, mainly from a financial standpoint. Because they remain in reconstruction mode, Washington needs as much salary-cap flexibility as it can get. McCloughan said he doesn’t expect the team to be major players in free agency. But, they still need to add at least some veterans to the roster, and although they may not hand out blockbuster deals, the Redskins will need cap space to work with.

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