They ' re gonna have to . Honestly , he ' s gonna command $ 25 mil per year if he hits the open market , and frankly I ' d be surprised if he signs for much less . The Redskins have absolutely no leverage here , and I think both parties know that . They realistically can ' t tag him again , and they don ' t have an alternative that ' s even remotely palatable if they let him walk , they either have to hope that they can get a starting caliber QB in the draft in the 20 s in a QB draft class that looks really , really weak , or they have to trade for one which they might be able to get one of Teddy Bridgewater or Sam Bradford , but that ' s far from ideal . Cousins is probably going to set the QB market for the next few years in a similar vein that Flacco ' s deal set the QB market after his SB run .