Report: Washington didn’t return Shanahan’s Kirk Cousins trade call in 2017
The bromance between Kyle Shanahan and Kirk Cousins is apparently deeper than anyone really knew.
It was 2017, shortly after Shanahan was named head coach of the 49ers, when Shanahan allegedly called the Washington Commanders to offer them the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft for Cousins.
According to Alec Lewis of The Athletic, who spoke to Shanahan’s father, legendary coach Mike Shanahan, Washington never returned the call.
That offseason, Kyle Shanahan, who had been named the head coach for the San Francisco 49ers after stops in Cleveland and Atlanta, tried to trade the No. 2 pick in the 2017 draft for Cousins, according to Mike Shanahan. “He knew Kirk knew his system, and he knew the type of guy Kirk was,” Mike Shanahan said. “But (Washington) wouldn’t even return the phone call.”
San Francisco wound up taking defensive tackle Solomon Thomas third overall after trading the second pick to the Bears, who used it to draft quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
Washington made Cousins play on the franchise tag in 2017 and then they lost him for nothing when he signed with the Vikings in free agency. Washington used the 17th pick in 2017 on defensive tackle Jonathan Allen.
The rumors linking Cousins with San Francisco have popped up from time to time over the past several offseason but no move has ever materialized. Cousins heads into the 2023 season playing out the final year of his deal with Minnesota.
Shanahan and the 49ers are betting their future, at least this season, on the last pick in the 2022 NFL draft, Brock Purdy, after trading former third overall pick Trey Lance to the Cowboys.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.