For years, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan wanted to work again with his protege from his days within the Washington Commanders franchise, quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Now, Shanahan's good pal, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, might beat the former to the opportunity.
Speaking at the NFL meetings in Phoenix, Arizona, McVay admitted there's a good chance L.A. has already moved on from another signal-caller with whom Shanahan is familiar, Jimmy Garoppolo. Yet that opened the door to Cousins, still a free agent, to head to Southern California to back up McVay's starter, Matthew Stafford.
"I don't know that," McVay said when asked if Jimmy G would stay in Los Angeles. "I would say, at this point, when there hasn't been a decision, it feels less likely than likely, but I don't want to rule that out. And so that's where you say hey, he's earned the right to be able to take his time and move forward accordingly in whatever that next chapter is for him in football."
In light of Garoppolo's probable departure, McVay also said, "Is there an opportunity to explore, if it's not Jimmy, [perhaps] Kirk Cousins? Of course."
Shanahan has to be jealous.
Sean McVay may put a stamp on longstanding Kirk Cousins-49ers storylines
McVay, who worked alongside Shanahan in Washington, also had a close-up view of Cousins, so that's no surprise.
But McVay also isn't a stranger to Shanahan's well-documented affinity for the veteran quarterback, which apparently was part of the Niners' original plans in 2017: not drafting a quarterback early so they could sign Cousins as a free agent in 2018.
The late-2017 Garoppolo trade from the New England Patriots changed that trajectory, though.
Every time Cousins has seemingly become available since, pundits have pointed at San Francisco as a plausible destination, thanks almost entirely to the relationship with Shanahan and regardless to what the 49ers' own quarterbacking situation was at the time.
Although now, with Brock Purdy and Mac Jones both under contract through 2026, the thought of Cousins heading to the Bay Area never truly materialized.
Perhaps McVay, filling the Rams' own need on the depth chart, will finally get to live out Shanahan's dream.