Cousins and the Redskins failed to reach an agreement on a long-term contract prior to Monday's 4:00 PM EST deadline, meaning he'll play a second straight season under Washington's franchise tag, Stephen Czarda of Redskins.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Cousins is scheduled to earn nearly $24 million in guaranteed money this season, which could end up being his last with the Redskins. The signal-caller will become a free agent after the upcoming campaign, and with 9,083 passing yards and 63 touchdowns (54 passing, nine rushing) the past two seasons, he's sure to draw heavy interest around the league. In its defense, Washington released a statement following their failure to secure Cousins to an extension, detailing the offer they made to the 28-year-old. To summarize, Cousins would've been guaranteed $53 million while becoming at least the NFL's second highest-paid player ever by average per year. With the leverage to command even more guaranteed money next offseason, though, Cousins opted to bet on himself once again, eschewing the Redskins' proposal. Although he's lost his top two receivers from last season, not to mention his offensive coordinator as well, Cousins' motivation ahead of a massive payday makes him an enticing commodity to monitor.