A report emerged early Monday that the Washington Redskins were "likely" to exercise the fifth-year, $16.1 million option on quarterback Robert Griffin III's rookie contract. The Skins then made the move official a short time later.
While the team would seem to be signaling with this transaction that RGIII very much remains in their plans and thus that they're set at the quarterback position for next season, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk believes it may simply be meant to obfuscate the Redskins true plans in the 2015 NFL Draft.
"The real question is whether Washington has leaked word of their 'likely' intentions to obscure their draft plans," writes Florio. "For example, by creating the impression that they're planning to exercise the option on Griffin by May 3, Washington could be plotting to take Marcus Mariota - if he's still on the board. And with Washington creating the impression they're not inclined to take Mariota, teams like the Browns and Eagles wouldn't feel compelled to trade up to No. 2, No. 3, or No. 4 to get Mariota; instead, they can try to swing a deal with Washington at No. 5.
"There's also a chance that Washington has gone next level, hoping that other teams will interpret the leak of their desire to keep Griffin as a smokescreen for their interest in Mariota."
That's, admittedly, quite a bit of conjecture on Florio's part in a short, two paragraph explanation, but it's still a notion worth considering, especially since RGIII looked so out-of-sorts at the end of last season - and neither Colt McCoy nor Kirk Cousins seem the likely answer - and no one is sure just what to expect from new Skins GM Scot McCloughan.
Unless Redskins head coach Jay Gruden and McCloughan have seen something in Griffin over the past few months that would indicate to them that he's suddenly ready to become the franchise signal-caller Washington hoped he'd be when they traded up and took him in the 2012 NFL Draft - or unless team owner Dan Snyder is forcing them to see that - then the Redskins remain ultimately unsettled at the quarterback position.
If Mariota were to fall to No. 5, it's likely the Redskins would be inundated with trade proposals from any number of teams. There would be ample opportunity to trade back, accumulate more picks and/or veteran players and get to work plugging the myriad holes on the back-end of their defense.
This seems the likeliest scenario for the notoriously level-headed McCloughan, who mentioned during a press conference announcing the move today, per Albert Breer of NFL.com, that he'd like to add to the Redskins current cache of draft picks.
Then again, as has been proven with RGIII himself, when Snyder and Co. see something they want, they're more than willing to go and get it.
If Mariota slips a bit and the Skins are enamored with his franchise quarterback potential, it would be hard to fault them for selecting the former Oregon product, declining the option on Griffin's contract -despite today's report - and moving forward after next season with Mariota as the face of the franchise.
