Kirk Cousins trade rumors are here. Do you like that?

There’s something weird going on in Washington. Surprise. But I’m actually talking about something strange going on with their professional football team, which, again, nothing new here. However, they seem intent on cutting ties with quarterback Kirk Cousins, and at least one insider thinks it could actually happen this spring.

Daniel Jeremiah of ESPN said Tuesday on 1090 AM in Washington that he believes there’s a “greater than 50 percent chance” that Cousins will not be with the team for the 2017 season. What could happen, according to his read of the situation, is that Washington could trade Cousins to the 49ers for a reunion with Kyle Shanahan along with Washington’s 17th pick in exchange for the No. 2 pick (there’d probably have to be some more later picks involved to even it all out, but you get the idea).

Washington and Cousins are at a standstill on a long-term deal, and it sounds like it’s gotten to the point now, where they’ve burned their bridge to a long-term deal. Cousins would like to test the market, even if he has to wait another year, and Washington doesn’t seem to be sold on him as a long-term answer.

We’re used to seeing Dan Snyder’s team do dumb things in free agency, but this breaks with the time honored tradition of handing out giant contracts to future free agent busts. Now, the team is turning up its nose as the chance to lock down an above average quarterback.

I’m firmly in the camp that Cousins has a limited upside. He had a rough few games down the stretch last season. And a back-breaking pick against the Giants that effectively killed Washington’s playoff chances isn’t easy to overlook.

Maybe he’s not worth $22 million per year in a rational marketplace. But NFL quarterback contracts have their own logic. There’s a premium teams pay for knowing what they have at the position.

Listen to the interview with Jeremiah again. Note the part where he says the team believes in Colt McCoy. That should tell you a lot. This has all the signs of “team sources” leaking some information to further their own interests at the bargaining table. Nobody believes in Colt McCoy that much.

Suppose they can’t come to terms on a deal and they do trade him. Then what? I can’t really see Colt McCoy as an acceptable bridge. There are likely to be some decent QB options on the market this year (Jay Cutler, Tyrod Taylor), but those guys aren’t any better than Cousins and they wouldn’t be that much cheaper. They could always draft a guy this year, too, but that’s even more of an unknown.

Or could Washington be planning a foray into the zany? Would they pursue Tony Romo if the Cowboys release him? Could they use a draft pick from trading Cousins to make a run at Jimmy Garoppolo?

The simplest explanation here is that this is just brinksmanship, two sides stumbling through the awkwardness of public negotiations. But Washington has restrained itself from acting irrationally for a couple of offseasons in a row now; they’re due for something stupid.