Appearing on the Dan Sileo Show on The Mighty 1090 in San Diego, Washington team president Bruce Allen was asked whether Robert Griffin III would remain on the roster for the 2016 season, and essentially confirmed what has been assumed for the last several months – RGIII is expected to take his talents elsewhere this offseason.
“I see Robert getting an opportunity with another team,” Allen said. “I think we’ve heard from some teams that are interested, and I think he’s going to have a choice of a couple teams that will let him excel in the future.”
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Washington has been in no rush to release Griffin, whose $16.155MM salary for 2016 remains non-guaranteed for now. As John Keim of ESPN.com outlines, the team will have until the new league year begins to do something with RGIII, whose salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s still on the roster at that point. A source tells Keim that a trade is a long shot, and would require Griffin to re-do his contract, but Washington is exploring all its options.
While it’s not clear if any team will be willing to make a trade for Griffin, there are at least three teams interested in pursuing him as a free agent, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). However, Cole cautions that those teams – who don’t want to be identified – would likely want to make sure that Griffin is open to becoming more of a pocket quarterback and willing to accept a probable backup role.
As RGIII waits to find out his fate, Washington is focused on locking up starting quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is eligible for free agency next month. The team has another week to use its franchise tag on Cousins, which seems at this point like the most logical outcome, since the two sides aren’t believed to be close to a longer-term agreement.
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