CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Browns lost one potential option at quarterback on Tuesday night when Washington swung a deal with Kansas City for Alex Smith. It cost Washington a third-round pick and cornerback Kendall Fuller, a young, emerging player who immediately fills a need for the Chiefs.

So, first of all, take Smith off the board if you had him on your potential bridge quarterback options.

Second, this means that Washington is now poised to move on from Kirk Cousins. Cousins has been living franchise tag to franchise tag in Washington and it was clear that a long-term commitment between the two parties was going to be difficult, if not impossible. Now Cousins is poised to hit free agency and there will be teams lining up to see if he could solve their quarterback problem.

It's only natural, then, that Cousins' name will come up in regards to the Browns. It's the combination of need and money that make it a discussion. It's also more complicated than that -- for both Cousins and for the Browns.

So let's talk about what it would mean if the Browns signed Cousins, how much it might cost and the other teams that could offer competition for his services.

What would signing Cousins mean?

When the San Francisco 49ers sent a second-round pick to New England for Jimmy Garoppolo the night before Halloween, they were neck-and-neck with the Browns in the race to the bottom and the No. 1 pick. Both teams were winless and both had passed on opportunities to solve their quarterback problem with high picks in the previous draft, so it appeared this was all setting up for the two franchises to go 1 and 2 in finding their signal-caller of the future.

Until it wasn't.

The 49ers decided that acquiring Garoppolo was a better option than drafting a quarterback high -- or, at least, a second-round pick wasn't too much to have the opportunity to see what Garoppolo was and get the inside track on signing him longterm. Either way, it wasn't a ringing endorsement in regards to what they thought of this upcoming quarterback class.

The Browns signing Cousins would signal one of two things: they either don't like any of the quarterbacks in this class enough to take him in the Top 5 or they simply aren't willing to wait on one of them to develop into their longterm future.

The acquisition of Smith came along with a contract extension, so maybe he was never going to be a bridge quarterback to begin with. The likes of AJ McCarron, Chase Daniel or any number of other quarterbacks the Browns could acquire via either a trade or free agency, though, would appear to be just that. It's hard to see Cousins, though, as merely a bridge quarterback. Yes, the rookie payscale makes it entirely possible to pay Cousins and draft a quarterback in the Top 5, but it wouldn't make sense to do so. If you're going to pay Cousins, you have to invest in the pieces around him as well.

Cousins, at 29 and with a track record, is a quarterback you sign with the intent of committing to him beyond simply the next season or two. It would seem to exclude picking a quarterback in the first round, if you even take one at all this year. It's also an indication that the expectation is to turn this ship around quickly -- like this season quickly. That means using your two Top 5 picks on players who will step on the field immediately.

So signing Cousins would likely mean that, for the third consecutive season, the Browns would have a Top 2 pick and not take a quarterback. How you feel about that combined with how you feel about the ceiling of a team with Cousins at quarterback likely defines how you feel about the Browns backing up a garbage truck full of cash in Cousins' driveway.

Speaking of garbage trucks full of cash ...

What would it take to get Cousins?

Kirk Cousins and Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford have posted nearly identical numbers over the last three seasons.

It's nearly impossible to put a number on what a player will make in free agency, in particular a quarterback. Very few good quarterbacks actually hit the market -- a statement which should at least give you pause when considering Cousins.

The point of reference here is Matthew Stafford, whose contract in August reset the bar for quarterback money. The Lions signed their 2009 top pick -- the result of an 0-16 season -- to a five-year, $135 million extension, setting records, according to the Detroit Free Press' Dave Birkett, for the biggest signing bonus at $50 million, most fully-guaranteed money at $60 million and three-year cash flow of $87 million. He also, according to Birkett, avoided offset language in his new deal. Stafford's base salary was $1 million last season, jumps to $9.5 million this season and tops out at $15 million in 2020. His actual cap numbers, however, hover around $30 million until 2022, the final year of the deal.

The thing is, Stafford and Cousins have posted nearly identical numbers the past three seasons. Both have started 48 games. Stafford has a record of 25-23 with one playoff appearance while Cousins' Redskins have gone 24-23-1 and he has also made the playoffs once. Stafford has thrown for 13,035 yards and 85 touchdowns while completing 66.1 percent of his passes. Cousins has thrown for 13,176 yards and 81 touchdowns with a completion percentage of 67 percent. Stafford has thrown 33 interceptions. Cousins has thrown 36. Their workload has been nearly identical, with Stafford throwing just 62 more passes than Cousins from 2015-17.

They're even both the same age. Stafford turns 30 in February while Cousins turns 30 in August. All we're missing is some youth sports connection between Cousins and a Cy Young winning pitcher. Does he know Corey Kluber, by chance?

If you've seen the meme on Twitter of Spider-Man pointing at someone else dressed up as Spider-Man ... well, statistically speaking, that's Cousins and Stafford.

Is someone going to pay Cousins that much money? It's hard to say. But don't think that his agent isn't ready to throw Stafford's historic contract out there as soon as he picks up the phone.

The competition

Kirk Cousins made his first career start against the Browns in 2012, a 38-21 win in which he threw for 329 yards and two touchdowns.

Here's where the Browns have a real problem if they do want Cousins. He will have choices and he'll have better choices than a team coming off an 0-16 season. Smith going to Washington might have been a worst-case scenario for the Browns in a potential pursuit of Cousins. It means the handful of playoff teams or potential playoff teams in the market for a new quarterback are still in that market.

Just look at this graphic from ESPN's Adam Schefter (or, more accurately, from ESPN's Adam Schefter's TV screen):

Potential cap space of teams with QB questions and or needs right now if there’s a hypothetical $176M salary cap: pic.twitter.com/B3qzdyRYDj — Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 31, 2018

Of the Top 5 on that list, two were playoff teams this season, Denver might be a quarterback away from getting back in the playoff picture and the other plays in New York, where patience isn't exactly a virtue.

All of this is before we know what the actual salary cap will be and before teams begin maneuvering to clear up space. Jacksonville, for example, could clear Blake Bortles' entire salary if they release him prior to March 14, according to the salary tracking website, Spotrac. Denver could clear even more money by moving on from one of their top two wide receivers.

The point is that the NFL is a league flush with cash and teams can find ways to find money. Cousins is going to get offers from more intriguing situations -- situations where he could go to the playoffs. Even if you project an absolute best-case scenario next season, the Browns can't offer that.

The other thing we don't know is what Cousins will prioritize. If it's money, the Browns are in contention. But he's made money. He made a shade under $45 million the last two seasons alone. Would it be unthinkable that, if the money isn't all that different, he would prefer a situation where he could win with a franchise more stable than Jimmy Haslam's? Would he relish an opportunity to stick it to Washington and lead a different team to the postseason?

It's not so cut-and-dry for the Browns, either. Is Cousins the quarterback they want leading their team for the foreseeable future? Doesn't it make more sense, from a cost standpoint, to finally identify your future quarterback in this draft and add a veteran that can give you a reasonable chance to win some games this season and then ride off into the sunset?

To me, the only real connection between Cousins and the Browns is money and the fact that Cousins' first career start came against Cleveland back in 2012. Cousins is a quick fix, but is he a longterm solution? That's the question John Dorsey and Co. will have to answer between now and March.

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