What is Robert Griffin III’s trade value?

Robert Griffin III’s time with the Washington Redskins is over, so what’s his trade value? RGIII is young, dynamic, and an apparent headache. But many NFL teams have quarterback needs? When a trade goes down, what will it look like? Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL TD Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream and debate the NFL and sports.

DAN:

The Washington Redskins will trade Robert Griffin III after the season, but what’s his trade value at this point? ESPN’s First Take debated whether the team should insert Colt McCoy or Kirk Cousins and they have now decided McCoy is their man. But before RGIII drives his career completely off a cliff, the Redskins will trade him. I believe they’ll get a haul, despite the statistics.

Washington is a 3-8 football team with 8-3 like team rankings. Offensively they’re 9th in passing and 16th in rushing. Defensively they’re 8th in passing and 9th in rushing. Maybe 8-3 is too generous, but if I only read those stats I’d guess the team in question was at worst 7-4. The problems in Washington go beyond the numbers.

Reports are swirling that Jay Gruden is attempting to get Robert Griffin III to study more, play by his rules, and become the team leader they need. All factual evidence would indicate he has yet to do any of those things. I have to credit Peter King for his insight, but even a fan in the upper decks without binoculars can see that the quarterback situation in Washington was NOT working. So they bench him, but he’s still young and hungry and can learn to be great once again.

RGIII has his completion percentage up this year from his career average, but that’s the lone bright spot. A QBR of 26.7 out of 100 is unacceptable and having thrown only two touchdowns and three interceptions is only making things worse.

Am I being too hard on Robert Griffin III? I know he’s only started five games this season, but his record is 1-4 in those games. The lone victory came against the Jaguars, in a game he left early because of injury.

Despite all his history, Robert Griffin III is still worth two high draft picks for a team like the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, or Houston Texans. All of those teams have veterans at the helm, with young signal callers either injured or having been benched. They will be searching for a new quarterback this offseason.

A change of scenery is all RGIII needs to re-start his career. The Washington jersey no longer looks good on him and his smile has disappeared. Its time to pass the torch and say so long to Robert Griffin III.

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TODD:

You’re right about one thing. Robert Griffin III’s time in Washington is numbered. We disagree on his current value though. There is no team that would offer the Redskins two high drafts pick for Griffin at this point. His trade value is depleted. Would the Bills actually rather start Griffin than Kyle Orton, or are you just saying that because you think it should be true? Sadly, it’s not.

It is hard to pinpoint why he’s been so bad though. Is it the lack of a work ethic or studiousness? Is it that he has never recovered his talent after the injuries? Is it that the Washington coaching staff has no idea how to use him correctly? It’s probably all of these things and some others.

2015 is the final year of Griffin’s contract before a team-option year kicks in that will surely be declined. So if Washington were to trade him, it would take place prior to next season. Of course, they could also just flat-out release him at this point. Robert Griffin III has played bad enough to deserve it. But even if he does get released, another team will give him a chance. Players like Griffin always get multiple chances because of the draw of upside.

But realistically, what upside is there? He doesn’t run the ball, at all. He has a nice completion percentage but none of his throws are going down field. And you already pointed out the losses that keep piling up. There is simply very little to like here.

Griffin will catch on as a back-up in 2015 for some new team where he has a chance of winning the starting job. He may even eventually grab that job, but the future is cloudy for a man some people actually argued should have been taken ahead of Andrew Luck in the 2012 NFL draft. And with Robert’s future cloudy, the future of Washington looks even murkier still.