Ideally, the NFL's highest paid player is the game's best player. Contracts don't nece sarily work that way. There are several factors, including timing, willingne s to use leverage and playing position that help determine the NFL's salary hierarchy. NFL Week 15 forced the to briefly make him the 's highest-paid player in 2013 after a stellar postseason during a contract year in which he was named XLVII MVP. Nobody was considering Flacco as an elite quarterback when he signed the deal. changed the NFL salary landscape last June when he signed a five-year, $122.97 million contract extension with the . The 2012 first overall pick's $24.594 million average yearly salary was an 11.1 percent increase over the previous standard that Flacco's extension set earlier in the year. Luck's contract established new benchmarks in overall contract guarantees ($87 million), money fully guaranteed within 12 months of signing ($60M), three-year cash flow ($75M) and compensation for the first three new years on the deal($79.97). Luck didn't advance the ball in the important contact metric of money fully guaranteed at signing. His $47 million tops ' quarterback best of $44.5 million but falls well short of the $59.955 million that the fully guaranteed defensive tackle at signing. becoming the NFL Terry Oreilly Men Jersey 's highest-paid player in the offseason is a ridiculous notion to many. But it's a realistic po sibility and here are the three factors that could make it happen.The franchise tag factor It was a no-brainer for the not to meet Cousins' contract demands last offseason and let him play the 2016 season on his $19.953 million non-exclusive franchise tag. The Redskins had reservations about paying Cousins as an above-average starter, given his limited track record. Washington's reported best offer was $16 million per year with $24 million in guarantees. Although it wouldn't have been accepted, the Redskins weren't willing to raise their offer to match the four-year, $72 million deal that received in free agency from the . Osweiler got $37 million fully guaranteed in the contract. CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora first reported a couple of weeks ago that the if a long-term deal can't be reached before the beginning of Anders Bjork Men Jersey March. Cousins would make $23,943,600 next season, which is 20 percent more than this year's tag. The 2017 tag would likely be the exclusive version, because the cost is expected to be practically the same as the non-exclusive one. An exclusive tag would prohibit Cousins from soliciting offer sheets from other teams. A second franchise tag isn't an i sue for the Redskins salary-cap wise. A suming the 2017 salary cap is set in the $168 million neighborhood, the Redskins are expected to have more than $55 million of 2017 cap space. Cousins would quickly sign a second franchise tender, just like he did this year, since it's fully guaranteed when accepted. Signing the tender wouldn't preclude the Redskins and Cousins from reaching an agreement before the July 15 deadline for franchise players to sign long-term. A practical consequence of a second franchise tag is increased financial expectations. When a client is franchised, an agent typically uses the tag amount as a baseline or guide for a long-term deal. This means that Cousins' agent, David Backes Jersey Mike McCartney of Priority Sports, wouldn't consider anything le s than $24 million per year for Cousins. A third franchise tag in 2018 at almost $34.5 million, a 44 percent increase over the 2017 figure, would be extremely cost-prohibitive for the Redskins. The leverage factor Cousins is erasing the concerns the Redskins had about him prior to this season by exceeding expectations with his improved play. It's the best bet a player has made on himself since Flacco. Cousins was named the NFC's Offensive Player of the Month for November. He completed 72.4 percent of his pa ses (84 of 116) for 1,086 yards with eight touchdowns and no interceptions for a 124.4 pa sing rating during November. The 2012 fourth-round pick is in the NFL's top 10 in several traditional statistical categories for quarterbacks. He is third in pa sing yards (4,045), fifth in completion percentage (67.5), sixth in pa ser rating (100.3), tied for ninth in touchdown pa ses (23) and second in yards per pa s attempt (8.17). Cousins is on pace to shatter the Redskins' single-season franchise record of 4,166 pa sing yards that he set in 2015. He is also flirting with becoming the sixth player to have a 5,000-yard pa sing season, which has only been done by , , , Dan Marino and . McCartney is going to make the Redskins pay for their reservations about Cousins if they want to keep him long-term. My understanding is Cousins was seeking a long-term deal averaging $20 million per year with $60 million in overall guarantees when talks last broke off. The days of the Redskins signing Cousins to that type of deal are long gone. Cousins isn't under any obligation to give the Redskins a hometown discount to help maintain or improve the talent around him to become perennial playoff contenders, especially before signing his first lucrative long-term deal. Tom Brady's willingne s to take le s with the hasn't started a trend among NFL quarterback and superstars. The 2004 first-round quarterback draft cla s ( , and ) signed market value extensions in 2015, which were their second big veteran contracts. Cousins is practically in a no-lose situation provided he finishes the season healthy. Turning into Brock Osweiler to end the regular season won't Rick Nash Women Jersey undermine Cousins' leverage. Cousins taking the Redskins to the playoffs in back-to-back years won't be a nece sity either for him to receive a big pay day. Getting the Redskins into the playoffs again and going on a Flacco-type Par Lindholm Jersey run would be a game changer. The first franchise tag put Cousins in a different salary stratosphere after making approximately $2.6 million on his four-year rookie contract. This allows for a hard-line stance in negotiations, especially before the March 1 deadline for the Redskins to franchise Cousins again. It's hard to imagine a scenario where a healthy Cousins signs for le s than Luck before the Redskins must make a franchise tag decision. The Redskins deciding Cousins' demands are so exce sive that they let him test the open market would also be an ideal scenario for McCartney. It's in Cousins' favor that there are more teams than competent quarterbacks in the NFL and the 2017 quarterback draft cla s isn't as highly regarded as the pa sers in the last two NFL drafts. Three teams to keep an eye on that will have an abundance of salary cap room in the unlikely event Cousins is an unrestricted free agent are the , and . The era is expected to come to an end in Chicago. The Bears should have close to $65 million of cap room without the remaining four years of Cutler's contract on the books. Chicago could have particular appeal to Cousins because he is from the area. The Browns, staring down an 0-16 season, really need t