WASHINGTON — With the March 1 franchise tag deadline looming, the Redskins and Kirk Cousins have yet to work out a deal that would keep the quarterback in Washington for the foreseeable future.

There have been peaks and valleys in their negotiations, represented in the wide-ranging reports from various media outlets. Over the weekend, Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports 1 unleashed a minor bombshell about Washington’s initial offer, reportedly for $12.5 million per season, an average annual value that’s laughably below market value for starting quarterbacks. Talks frayed after the Redskins countered with $15 million per year.

Only a day earlier, three national reporters had reported three very different things about the contract talks, beginning with Adam Schefter’s report that Washington had already decided to use either the franchise or transition tag on Cousins, only to be contradicted by a report from Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, who indicated that no such decision had been made. And then there was Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reporting the Redskins, in an effort to keep all their options open, hadn’t ruled out trading Cousins.

So far, Monday has been no different, with Rapoport reporting negotiations will be ongoing up until the deadline, but the transition tag “seems most likely.” Though Mike Jones of The Washington Post says Washington will “likely use the franchise tag” to retain Cousins should they not reach a long-term agreement prior to Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline.

Jones went on to write it’s believed Washington would use the non-exclusive franchise tag, which similar to the transition tag maintains the organization’s right of first refusal — to match any offer Cousins receives from another team — but would return two first-round draft picks to the Redskins should they choose not to match. The other distinguishing trait between the two options is the franchise tag would set Cousins’ salary at $19.95 million for 2016, while the team would only be committing to a $17.69 million salary under the transition tag.

Despite the lower cost, the transition tag comes with its own inherent dangers, notably it would only take one team with serious interest to drastically raise Cousins’ value with a big offer, which the Redskins would then have to match or lose their quarterback.

Transition tag can be an agent's friend. I helped make John Randle the NFL's highest paid defensive player on that tag once. — Joel Corry (@corryjoel) February 29, 2016

Cousins’ camp currently has no interest in signing a long-term deal, according to Jones, as they would prefer to gauge the quarterback’s value on the open market.

With so many varying reports, what’s clear is Cousins remains confident in his worth on the open market, and the chances of him reaching a long-term deal with the Redskins appear to be waning with the tag deadline fast approaching.

Follow @ChrisLingebach and @1067TheFan on Twitter.