There is no guarantee Kirk Cousins will fare better than Robert Griffin III as the starting quarterback of the Washington Redskins, but it appears certain executives and coaches are willing to give it a chance.
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The Redskins even have had trade conversations about Griffin with a handful of NFL teams, per sources, but have found no interest and it remains unclear if ownership would allow Washington to trade him, per team and league sources.
Gruden had said Saturday that he was given the indication that he would have the freedom to pick his quarterback, and he has now settled on Cousins. Not surprising, there is infighting about this possibility, though the sad reality is that Griffin has not been the same since he tore his ACL and the team has not done a good job coming up with a plan to leverage his existing skills.
At Monday’s conference, Gruden responded to a question about what happens to RG3 with “Robert’s on our football team and he’s a Washington Redskin”. But as Schefter said, this extension – which is guaranteed – may actually be one of the leading reasons the front office would be so keen to cut ties. But unlike last week, when Griffin handled all of the first reps in both team and individual drills, even though he hadn’t been cleared for game play, it was Cousins first in line.
The Redskins picked up the fifth-year option in Griffin’s contract in April.
The Redskins then released a statement Thursday saying that Griffin was cleared to play in the third preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens before this latest turn of events. That said, we can’t forget that he was benched relatively quickly last season, so he’ll have to shine tonight against the Ravens in order to truly confirm this report that he will be starting against the Dolphins. Griffin left August 20’s preseason match with the Detroit Lions with a head injury, and was later reported to have a concussion.
Cousins sports a 2-7 career record as a starter.
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This Robert Griffin III mess isn’t going away. On Friday, just hours before an independent neurologist announced Griffin was not cleared from a concussion, Gruden told the media that the quarterback received final medical clearance from multiple doctors to play Saturday night. Plus, Cousins simply has outplayed Griffin this preseason, completing 40 of 53 passes for 435 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for a 103.9 passer rating.
