The San Francisco 49ers apparently offered a mammoth package to Washington back in 2017 for quarterback Kirk Cousins, only to have it turned down.
In a story published last week, former NFL head coach Mike Shanahan told Alec Lewis of The Athletic that the 49ers (coached by his son, Kyle, since 2017) offered the No. 2 pick of the 2017 NFL Draft to Washington for the Pro Bowl signal-caller.
According to Shanahan, however, Washington wouldn’t even pick up the phone.
If that wasn’t bad enough for Washington fans? According to Jay Gruden, who coached the team from 2014 to 2019, the 49ers’ trade offer for Cousins featured far more than the No. 2 selection in 2017.
Here’s what Gruden stated on 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C.:
“The Shanahans love Kirk and he loves them, and I don’t blame them; they brought him in here and taught him some good ball, and we were fortunate to keep Kirk and work with him…
“They would’ve given up way more than that (pick) – you’re talking about a $150 million quarterback, you’re going to get two ones and a player, or two ones and a two. You look at all the teams that are struggling, what don’t they have? He had opportunities to go to San Francisco, the Jets, Minnesota – we could’ve traded him and made our team better, instead we got a compensatory third round pick…it makes no sense.”
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Gruden added that Washington wouldn’t do the trade because of something that sounds just like then-owner Dan Snyder and then-GM Bruce Allen. According to Gruden, Snyder and Allen “didn’t like the Shanahans and didn’t want them to get” the veteran signal-caller.
“It’s a shame. We had such a hot commodity, a young talented player with a bright future ahead of him, and we got nothing for him. That’s the worst decision we made as a franchise” Gruden stated. “A conditional third rounder? The way to handle that is to maximize your return.”
Snyder and Allen ran the organization the way they wanted to, and that simply explains why the team has been in complete disarray since 1999 (Snyder’s first year of owner). By rejecting the 49ers’ trade offer, the Commanders missed out on a chance to draft Patrick Mahomes in 2017, and look where they are six years later.
Fortunately for the long-suffering Washington fans, Snyder did them all a favor by selling the team to a group led by Josh Harris earlier this year for $6.05 billion.
