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Quarterback Kirk Cousins won't sign a long-term deal before Washington applies the franchise tag to him, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported Monday.

Florio cited "a source with knowledge of the situation" and noted Washington has nine days to apply the tag but could avoid doing so if it inked Cousins to a new contract. Alas, the signal-caller is reportedly more interested in drawing a second franchise tag.

Florio explained there is little motivation for the Michigan State product to sign a long-term deal before he is tagged, noting the deadline to turn said tag into a longer contract is still July 15 even after the March 1 tag deadline passes.

Florio provided additional details on the situation:

And so the flow chart for Washington is simple through March 1: Tag him or don't tag him. If he's tagged, Cousins will rush to sign it, adding $23.94 million to the $19.95 million he earned last year. Then, talks on a long-term deal likely will consist of Cousins receiving $23.94 million fully guaranteed in 2017, plus a 20-percent raise (reflecting the increase arising from use of the transition tag) fully guaranteed for 2018. It's a total of $52.67 million over two years; for anything less than that, Cousins should again take it year to year.

In essence, Washington missed an opportunity to ensure Cousins' long-term future remains with the organization at a reasonable price with a potential longer offer when he was still under his rookie contract.

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Now the quarterback has leverage, and he couldn't have picked a better time to possess it.

Pro Football Focus lists Cousins as the top free-agent quarterback on its free-agency tracker, and the next five are Brian Hoyer, Matt Barkley, Mike Glennon, Geno Smith and Shaun Hill. Those names don't exactly scream future Lombardi Trophy winners, making Cousins look all the better if he were to hit the open market.

What's more, he is just 28 years old and proved his durability by appearing in all 16 games in each of the last two seasons.

He threw for a career-high 4,917 yards to go along with 25 touchdowns in 2016, and the draft isn't exactly a viable fall-back option considering Chris Biderman of USA Today's Niners Wire said the quarterback class "appears pretty weak at the top."

Cousins has the leverage in this situation, and he is apparently set on waiting for the franchise tag before considering a long-term deal with the team that drafted him in 2012.