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http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/browns-vp-rg3-could-be-more-than-just-a-short-term-solution/
Who is the Cleveland Browns' quarterback of the future? It's a question that has plagued the team since it re-entered the league back in 1999, and one that still has no firm answer. When you've had 16 different quarterbacks throw at least 100 passes for your team in 17 years, yeah, QB is still a pretty damn big question mark.
The Browns have four quarterbacks on their roster heading into the 2016 season: Josh McCown, Austin Davis, Robert Griffin III, and 2016 third-round pick Cody Kessler. Head coach Hue Jackson isn't yet ready to commit to naming any of them the starter for the 2016 season, but the widely-held assumption is that it will be Griffin.
Griffin signed just a two-year deal with the team, though, so it is also a widely-held assumption that even if he does win the job for 2016, he won't be keeping it for long.
Not so fast, executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown cautioned. Griffin could very well be the long-term answer.
"Our plan would be for Robert, if it carries out, to come in, solidify himself and then, if we felt like he's our answer longer term, to begin working on a longer-term deal," Brown said, per Ohio.com. "Way premature to be talking about that at this point. He's got to be able to come in, earn the starting job and then be able to show that he can lead our offense in a manner that's going to allow us to be successful to compete for this division and ultimately for the Super Bowl.
"That comment [about Griffin being able to play in Cleveland for a long time] was certainly in line with that, but also the fact that he's just 26 years old and he wants to play for a long time. He provides that upside, if he's able to come in and do what's first, which is establish himself as a starter and a capable starter for us."
All that is, of course, easier said than done. Griffin sure looked like the long-term answer in Washington for a year, but a serious knee injury, struggles with a changing offensive system (and the head coach who installed it), and the performance of Kirk Cousins (in 2015) led to his leaving the team this offseason. The turmoil he's gone through during his short career led Brown to compare Griffin to ... well, the Browns.
"He's a little bit the mirror image of us, where he's got a chip on his shoulder, there's a lot of noise about him on the outside, and he's a tremendous teammate, really passionate about football, wants to learn and get better, wants to be coached hard, wants to be the best he can be," Brown said. "He's proven that. He's done it before, but he knows also that he's proven he's got a lot of growth left for him to become the consistent player that we need him to be and he wants to be."
Robert Griffin III has a chance to prove he's Cleveland's long-term answer.
Getty Images
Who is the Cleveland Browns' quarterback of the future? It's a question that has plagued the team since it re-entered the league back in 1999, and one that still has no firm answer. When you've had 16 different quarterbacks throw at least 100 passes for your team in 17 years, yeah, QB is still a pretty damn big question mark.
The Browns have four quarterbacks on their roster heading into the 2016 season: Josh McCown, Austin Davis, Robert Griffin III, and 2016 third-round pick Cody Kessler. Head coach Hue Jackson isn't yet ready to commit to naming any of them the starter for the 2016 season, but the widely-held assumption is that it will be Griffin.
Griffin signed just a two-year deal with the team, though, so it is also a widely-held assumption that even if he does win the job for 2016, he won't be keeping it for long.
Not so fast, executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown cautioned. Griffin could very well be the long-term answer.
"Our plan would be for Robert, if it carries out, to come in, solidify himself and then, if we felt like he's our answer longer term, to begin working on a longer-term deal," Brown said, per Ohio.com. "Way premature to be talking about that at this point. He's got to be able to come in, earn the starting job and then be able to show that he can lead our offense in a manner that's going to allow us to be successful to compete for this division and ultimately for the Super Bowl.
"That comment [about Griffin being able to play in Cleveland for a long time] was certainly in line with that, but also the fact that he's just 26 years old and he wants to play for a long time. He provides that upside, if he's able to come in and do what's first, which is establish himself as a starter and a capable starter for us."
All that is, of course, easier said than done. Griffin sure looked like the long-term answer in Washington for a year, but a serious knee injury, struggles with a changing offensive system (and the head coach who installed it), and the performance of Kirk Cousins (in 2015) led to his leaving the team this offseason. The turmoil he's gone through during his short career led Brown to compare Griffin to ... well, the Browns.
"He's a little bit the mirror image of us, where he's got a chip on his shoulder, there's a lot of noise about him on the outside, and he's a tremendous teammate, really passionate about football, wants to learn and get better, wants to be coached hard, wants to be the best he can be," Brown said. "He's proven that. He's done it before, but he knows also that he's proven he's got a lot of growth left for him to become the consistent player that we need him to be and he wants to be."
Robert Griffin III has a chance to prove he's Cleveland's long-term answer.
Getty Images
