INQUISITR.COM / Sports

RG III Released From Redskins, What’s Next For The Former Offensive Rookie Of The Year?

By William Gomez
Published on: 04:57 PST, Mar 7, 2016

Sources have informed ESPN’s Dianna Russini that the Washington Redskins have released former starting quarterback Robert Griffin III Monday morning.

Rumors have been surrounding the former 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year since he fell out of favor with the Redskins and head coach Jay Gruden these past two seasons, eventually losing his starting job to Kirk Cousins this past year.

Cousins made the most of his opportunity and had a strong season this past year. He led the Redskins to the playoffs, and played well enough to allow the Redskins to keep Griffin on the sideline the entire season, ensuring his health and the ability for a possible trade with the multiple teams searching for a quarterback.

The real shock of Monday’s news regarding Robert Griffin III is how long it took for the Redskins to part ways with their former signal caller, who had hoped a team would have came to them with a trade for the quarterback.

After a strong rookie season, RG III was considered to be one of the brightest young stars in the league, but after a string of injuries and failure to perform the way he did his rookie season, the league saw his stock fall dramatically these past couple of years.

After a stand-out career with Baylor, Griffin was drafted No. 2 in the 2012 NFL Draft. In his rookie season, he led the overachieving Redskins to a playoff berth against the Seattle Seahawks, a game in which he tore his ACL and MCL and what many believe was the culprit to his decline.

As mentioned earlier, RG III also won the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors over the Indianapolis Colts’ No. 1 pick that year, Andrew Luck, and was once considered the face and future of the Redskins franchise.

He held an NFL record 102.4 passer rating his rookie season along with throwing for 3,200 yards, 20 touchdowns and only five interceptions while also running for 815 yards.

It’s also worth noting that by releasing RG III today, the Redskins save the $16.15 million he was owed for 2016 that would have counted against their salary cap if he was on the roster after 4 p.m. on March 9.

With RG III now a free agent, teams in need of a quarterback must now decide if he is worth the risk. Griffin hasn’t played a regular season game in more than a year, leaving interested teams with no real assessment on his current ability.

In his rookie season, he proved he was a reliable dual threat with his ability to drop back and elusiveness to run and keep defenders honest. Whether or not Griffin is still capable of the kind of production he produced in his rookie season is still up for debate.

Reports from the Inquisitr have attached RG III’s name to teams such as the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers.

Of the three teams, the Texans could be the one that would make the most sense. They haven’t had a consistent quarterback in their lineup since the days of Matt Schaub. They were able to sneak into the playoffs last season due mainly to the poor play of their division, but had no real grip on their quarterback position as they went on to feature three quarterbacks throughout the 2015 season. Inserting RG III into their line-up certainly won’t make them worse than what they already are.

[Photo by AP Photo/Brynn Anderson]

Share this article: RG III Released From Redskins, What’s Next For The Former Offensive Rookie Of The Year?
Football nfl Sports Washington Redskins
More from Inquisitr