One insider reveals the long-term contract Redskins should have offered Kirk Cousins

Back before he read that ridiculous and misleading statement about his team's negotiations with Kirk "There Is No T In My First Name" Cousins a week ago, and before team brass further complicated this already messy process, Washington team president Bruce Allen was actually on to something.

Way back in February, when Allen spoke about how coming up with a fair contract extension with his team's franchise quarterback didn't have to be all that difficult or trying, he had a point.

"I don't think it's as complicated as everyone wants to make it," Allen told a local radio station at the time. "And we'll get together with his agent, and I'm sure we'll come to an agreement."

Well … about that second part.

The reality was, finding a sweet spot with Cousins didn't have to be an ongoing saga with plot twist after plot twist. It should've been resolved by now. If Washington wants the quarterback as much as they claim to, they should've been Tweeting out photos of him signing his deal years ago. Now, one week after further clouding the situation by treating Cousins more like a scorned outgoing free agent than a man making $24 million to lead their team this season, the football world is still trying to fathom why the franchise made such a meal of these negotiations yet again.

It didn't have to be this way. Not close.

Had Allen simply allowed his well-respected contract/cap guru, Eric Schaffer, to do what he does best, I have no doubt the sides could have bridged much of their gaps and resolved this quagmire once and for all. Had owner Dan Snyder opened the wallet and got out of the way, I wouldn't be writing this column mere days before players report for a training camp in Richmond with a cloud or two already hanging over it. Had Washington been a little creative, rather than offering a trite contract structure that basically only guaranteed one season besides the already guaranteed 2017 -- and yet tried to steal five more years of controlling Cousins for that bargain-basement price -- there may have actually been something for the sides to discuss at the deadline.

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