Dan Snyder’s hatred of the Shanahans changed 49ers history

Being an NFL nepo baby comes with some baggage. Yes, Kyle Shanahan was hired by his father, Mike, to be Washington’s offensive coordinator in 2010. But while his association with his father undoubtedly landed Kyle Shanahan that and other jobs, it cost him dearly years later. 

In a story published in The Athletic last week, Mike Shanahan said that Kyle’s 49ers tried to offer the No. 2 pick in the 2017 draft for Cousins, but Washington “wouldn’t even return the phone call.”

Kyle Shanahan’s infatuation with Cousins has been long documented. Former Washington coach Jay Gruden — who replaced Mike Shanahan in 2014 — confirmed his predecessor’s account in an interview with a D.C. radio station on Thursday. He added a new wrinkle: The reason the trade never came close to happening is that vile former Washington owner Dan Snyder (and longtime Washington GM Bruce Allen) hated the Shanahans.

“It was as simple as they didn’t like the Shanahans and they didn’t want to give Kirk to them,” Gruden said.

“Bruce and Dan hated the idea of Kyle and Kirk having success,” one host suggested.

“Exactly,” Gruden responded.

All of this has been bubbling up for years, but this is by far the most explicitly the parties involved have been in confirming exactly what want down. Gruden implied that the Snyder-Shanahans beef scuttled a trade in a 2021 interview, but never quite went as far in spelling out what happened. “Obviously, dealing with the Shanahans was something that they did not want to do,” Gruden said in November 2021. “I don’t think that they could stomach having Kirk Cousins be successful for Kyle Shanahan.”

At the time of the trade offer, Cousins was locked in a yearslong contract standoff with Washington. He was franchise-tagged twice before joining the Vikings as a free agent in 2018. Gruden lamented Washington’s classic short-sighted handling of the Cousins situation.

“It’s a shame. We [had] such a hot commodity … and we got nothing for him. … That’s the worst decision we made as a franchise,” Gruden said. When he says “worst,” surely Gruden is referring to strictly football decisions, as Snyder was running a den of crimes and abuse before finally selling the team this year.

The Shanahan-Cousins mutual admiration society has been one of the longest-running NFL rumors. Cousins is often on short-term contracts, and Kyle Shanahan has struggled to find stability at QB in Santa Clara.

“The Shanahans love Kirk, Kirk loves the Shanahans … I don’t blame them,” Gruden said.

But because Snyder stymied Shanahan’s attempts to get Cousins six years ago, the 49ers eventually ended up on the road to Brock Purdy. Cousins will be a free agent this offseason, guaranteeing another year or so of rumors tying him to the Bay Area.