Most of you no doubt know that Kirk Cousins will be the starting quarterback for the Washington pro football franchise this season. Jeff Darlington wrote a column suggesting that it’s best for Washington to cut Robert Griffin III now and get it over with.
For now, the quarterback can participate in non-contact drills, which was the case at Monday’s 11 a.m. practice. But the moment Griffin is cleared by neurologist Robert Kurtzke to resume full activities, the Redskins will have a $16.1 million liability on their hands. That’s the figure that Griffin would be owed next season through the fifth-year option on his rookie contract — a figure that is fully guaranteed for injury in 2015.
The Redskins would be indecisive and financially irresponsible to bench Griffin and still allow him to practice, but they would also be naïve to think this will end quietly if that’s the path they choose. Which is why cutting Griffin, sooner rather than later, is the only diplomatic choice.
What we all must remember is that it’s possible for somebody to get injured in practice as much as it could happen in a game. If RG3 did get injured during practice, then yes, Washington is on the hook for $16M next season.
There will be those who argue that RG3 gives Washington a good fallback option in case Cousins gets hurt, but the instance you put RG3 on the field, you again risk that he will be guaranteed a massive sum if he gets injured.
While we’re talking about the Washington pro football franchise, ESPN had an interesting tidbit about the Daniel Snyder era.
16 years, 16 starting quarterbacks. The Washington Redskins in the Daniel Snyder era: pic.twitter.com/T9pwAioRqM
— ESPN (@espn) August 31, 2015
Just be thankful, Bronco fans, that Pat Bowlen had stability at the QB position for most of his tenure as owner. Consider that the Broncos have four QBs who have had more starts (regular season and playoffs) under Bowlen than Jason Campbell did for Snyder: John Elway, Jake Plummer, Peyton Manning and Brian Griese. Additionally, Jay Cutler had more starts under Bowlen than RG3 did under Snyder. Heck, Kyle Orton had more starts under Bowlen than all but two QBS who have played for Snyder!
That says a lot about how fortunate the Broncos have been under Bowlen and how terrible things have been for Washington ever since Snyder took over.
