LANDOVER, Md. — Nearly 70 percent of Broncos fans agree—Kirk Cousins would look mighty fine in Orange & Blue.
They aren’t alone.
“I’m with everybody else,” Von Miller said after Cousins and his Redskins dismantled the Broncos, 27-11. “A lot of teams would literally kill to have a quarterback like that. The list is long, but we’ll cross that bridge whenever we get to it.”
Would Miller literally give up a few million to help it happen? That’d be a Christmas miracle.
Signing Cousins, who threw three touchdowns and accounted for more than 300 yards of offense on Sunday, would likely leave the Broncos with the highest paid defensive player and the highest paid offensive player in the entire league.
That’s like getting the new XBox and the new Playstation under the same tree. It’s cool and all but those systems aren’t worth much if you can’t get any games to go with them.
You catch my drift?
If the Broncos want to have the next big free agent quarterback on their sideline next year, they are going to have to do some serious roster construction. Even with the most amazing manipulation, they’d be sure to have two players taking up nearly a third of their salary cap next season.
Maybe management can stick an orange kettle and a bell-ringing Santa at the entrance of the locker room for the team to help chip in towards the $30 million a year that Cousins is set to command. They sure aren’t shy about their feelings towards him.
“Oh, definitely one of those elite quarterbacks,” Broncos defensive lineman Adam Gotsis told BSN Denver. “I mean, you look at him—accurate, throws the ball well, handles pressure in the pocket. We didn’t get after him enough today, and you see the result.”
“Oh yeah, I mean, shoot. I don’t want to say anything right now,” Chris Harris Jr. said when prompted about the idea of Cousins being a Bronco, biting his tongue. “I mean, he’s a ball player. He definitely can make some plays, he can make all of the throws. But, I mean, shoot, I can’t say anything about next year.”
You can credit the guy for holding back what he really wanted to say, or you can blame him for not putting his confidence in the guys already on the roster, but you can’t deny the stats.
While Cousins was slicing up one of the league’s best defenses, Brock Osweiler, who many believe to be Denver’s best option at quarterback, was going 22-38 for 193 yards, zero touchdowns, one fumble and one interception. Outside of a garbage-time touchdown from C.J. Anderson, the Denver offense was held to a measly three points. Same story, different city.
The Broncos need a quarterback. You know it, I know it, and every player in that locker room knows it.
Will it be Kirk Cousins?
“I mean, it crosses your mind,” the soon-to-be highest paid player in the league said of the idea that Sunday may have been his last game as a Redskin. “Who knows?”
What we do know is that something has to give if he’s going to be in Orange next season. The Broncos can’t have one of the most expensive defenses, one of the most expensive wide-receiving duos and the most expensive quarterback. This isn’t baseball.
“This hurts,” one of those highly-paid receivers, Demaryius Thomas, said. “[We’re] used to making it to the playoffs. [We’re] used to playing football after December… The past two years have been tough.”
If the players in that locker room want to get back to their winning ways and they want to do it in Denver, they may have to help the team do it.
One thing is for sure, Denver will find their way into the hunt.
“A lot of teams would kill to have a quarterback like that,” Von Miller said a second time.
