The Browns Shouldn't Have Signed Robert Griffin III

I get it, Robert Griffin III brings pizzazz to the Browns. He’s a big name and if you told me in 2012 that Griffin would be joining Cleveland I’d laugh you out of the room.

Problem is, 2012 was four years ago, and that’s also the last time he looked like a competent, let alone transcendent, quarterback.

I don’t have a problem with the Browns taking a flyer on a player with upside. Griffin has shown elite potential — albeit briefly. The answer to the question of whether or not he can reach those 2012 levels again is likely a no. But if he’s even half that player, he’s the best quarterback the Browns have had in awhile.

And he has Hue Jackson, who did a great job taking a flyer on Jason Campbell in Oakland back in 2010 — coincidentally it was the Browns who ended that experiment, being the cause of the leg injury that cost him the rest of the season. Jackson also was instrumental in taking Andy Dalton from a middle of the road to a borderline elite quarterback in his last three seasons with the team. For a man who hardly had any options, this is a pretty solid fit.

Here’s the underlying problem I have with Griffin — or any quarterback not named Brock Osweiler the Browns would have signed to a similar deal — it’s that Cleveland for the first time since 2000 is sitting on a top-two pick. And unlike in 2000, when Chad Pennington was the best and first quarterback taken at No. 18, there are five solid quarterback prospects that could be had at both No. 2 and No. 32, depending on who Cleveland would favor.

I wrote about this earlier, Cleveland needs to take a quarterback in this draft and address the problem head on. I don’t understand why the Browns would bring in another guy who clearly will need a lot of reps and attention in order to succeed. Griffin didn’t see any significant time in 2015 and the last impression of him was not good.

By signing Griffin, Cleveland is essentially punting on drafting a quarterback until next year. But there is no guarantee the Browns will have such a golden opportunity in 2017. Yes, more than a year away the next crop of quarterbacks might look better to some (not me), but even if they are, there might not be as many of them and we’ve seen time and time again Cleveland being not quite bad enough to get the pick needed to secure the best signal caller.

In Griffin’s defense he’s saying the right thing — he’ll take a rookie quarterback under his wing. Talk is one thing, in Washington he had Kirk Cousins breathing down his neck from day one and his time there ended badly not just for the injuries, but because of the dynamic created by having the next guy staring at you with every mistake. The pressure that comes with that is very real, and the Browns have gone down this path before. They’ve promised guys the job, only to have in-season performance or injury pressures force a quick change.

Tim Couch and Kelly Holcomb; Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson; Brandon Weeden and Brian Hoyer; Johnny Manziel and Brian Hoyer; and potentially Griffin and yet-to-be named 2016 top 32 draft pick.

How many times do the Browns need to see this play out before they get the point? The apprentice quarterback system just doesn’t work. Griffin forces them to not draft a significant quarterback, essentially squandering a rare chance to take one of premium ones.

I know what you’re thinking — Drew Bledsoe and Tom Brady; Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers; Drew Brees and Phillip Rivers; Bledsoe and Tony Romo; Peyton Manning and Osweiler; heck even John Kitna and Carson Palmer. With Kitna being the exception, five of those six apprentice scenarios have something in common: a Hall of Fame quarterback being the “master.”

Griffin, even in the best-case scenario, is nothing like any of those “master” quarterbacks. Osweiler arguably played better than Manning last year, but benching a “master” in the playoffs is a career-staking move that Denver’s brass didn’t have in them. Manning got his job back and the result speaks for itself.

Furthermore, the league has changed in the last five years. The day of the apprentice quarterback is dead. If a team selects a guy in the first two rounds, he’s expected to play soon if not immediately. Since the 2011 Draft, 20 quarterbacks have been selected in the first two rounds, 11 started from day one, three others started within their first month and two started at some point in their rookie year.

Only four did not start a game during their rookie season — Jake Locker, Colin Kaepernick, Osweiler and Jimmy Garopollo. Osweiler and Garopollo were sitting behind two legends (Manning and Brady), Kaepernick sat behind Alex Smith and Locker behind a 36-year old Matt Hasselbeck. All four scenarios had a strong incumbent starter to show them the way.

Oh by the way, none of those numbers include Russell Wilson — who was a third-round pick that started from day one. And he beat out Rogers’ apprentice Matt Flynn in camp to do so.

Griffin has shaky-at-best health and since his multiple injury setbacks has not been anywhere near the player he was in 2012. Odds of him getting himself re-injured are high and the odds of his struggling or failing to reach whatever potential is left are solid. If the Browns draft a quarterback, Griffin will siphon off precious reps in camp and the preseason from the player of the future. Inevitably that player — like the rookies the Browns have run into the ground before him — will need to step in mid-season underprepared.

Bringing Griffin in, even on a value contract, basically eliminates the prospect of selecting a quarterback at No. 2 or 32. If the Browns do smart money is on it ending badly once again.