Sunday, March 12, 2017

Browns release Robert Griffin

The Robert Griffin era ended in Cleveland not with the earth moving as it did to Hue Jackson in his tryout,but with a whimper as the Browns released the former Baylor Bear in order to avoid paying a $750,000 roster bonus on the 15th of March.
The release saves the team just under seven million dollars in paying Griffin in 2017,although they will have to count his signing bonus of 1.75 million against the 2017 cap.

Griffin was the quarterback in the Browns only win of the season in December over the then San Diego Chargers,but that was about the only bright spot in his run as a Brown as he was injured late in the opening game loss to the Eagles and finished the season with just two touchdown passes to go with three interceptions along with finishing with less than 900 passing yards in the five games that Griffin would play.

Griffin looks to be done as a serious player in the league.
Griffin cannot stay healthy,the league's defenses have caught up to the read option that Griffin and similar quarterbacks had their Hailey's Comet like rise and fall and his accuracy has gotten worse with each injury.
I cannot imagine with all of those issues that any team is going to sign Griffin as any more than a challenger for an unproven starter and that's at best.

Don't ask me what the Browns are thinking at quarterback because I couldn't tell you.
I could see several scenarios developing that include trading with New England for Jimmy Garroppolo,moving up in the draft for their highest rated player,hoping a QB is there at 12 and even waiting until the second or third round to be ready in case they could land USC's Sam Darnold in 2018.
Each of those options have their pro and con.
Garroppolo-Looks to be a talented QB,but small sample size is concerning and if he is such a slam dunk,why did he last until round two in his draft year?
Moving up-Makes sure you land your guy,but trading assets to do so.
Waiting until 12-Gets a guy without paying more,but might lose your guy.
Waiting until later-If you don't love the higher rated players (I'm lukewarm),why not wait,but a guy at that stage isn't going to solve the problem,at least right away.
Waiting until 2018-I love Darnold,but there is no guarantee that A) he will come out early and B) As bad as the Browns will be (I expect them to be bad again),there are other teams that will be awful too that might nose them out of the spot in San Francisco,Chicago and my dark horse favorite-the Jets.

The Browns may not have to have their franchise quarterback this season,but they will need at least one from somewhere in the draft and they should have a veteran of some sort around,either keep Brock Osweiler or sign someone else to battle for the job.
I have my questions about each of the top three quarterbacks in the draft and I'd hate to see the Browns lose out on a generational talent just because a bad team was in a rush to say they had their quarterback...

I'm going to try (internet permitting) to post the boxing challenge later today...


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