The Browns and quarterback Robert Griffin III will reboot together.
After hosting Griffin for a free-agent visit last weekend at team headquarters and publicly flirting with the idea of uniting with him this week during the NFL owners meetings, the Browns signed the second overall pick in the 2012 draft Thursday to a two-year contract reportedly worth $15 million with $6.75 million guaranteed, including a signing bonus of $3.5 million.
The marriage makes sense for at least one reason. The Browns are starting over in many ways — a new regime is attempting to overhaul the roster in the wake of a 3-13 season — and Griffin is doing the same after experiencing one of the most dramatic rises and falls in NFL history. He led Washington to the playoffs as the league’s offensive rookie of the year but declined to the point where he didn’t even play last season and was cut March 7.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, I know, to not only get back to where I was personally in 2012, but to where we want to be as a team and where I want to be as a professional,” Griffin said during a conference call. “So I’m ready to work. I’ve never been afraid of that.
“What happened [with Washington] would break a lot of people, and I thank God for the people He surrounded me with to help me get through that time and to show me this is what I’m supposed to do. This is my calling.”
As a rookie dual threat, Griffin took the league by storm, became an NFC East champion and went 9-7, including 0-1 in the playoffs. However, he suffered torn anterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments in his right knee during a postseason loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Jan. 6, 2013, and has since gone 5-15 as a starter. Injuries and trouble transitioning from a zone-read quarterback to a traditional pocket passer have hindered the former Heisman Trophy winner from Baylor University.
Last summer, he suffered a concussion in the third preseason game and lost the starting job to Kirk Cousins. Griffin, 26, didn’t take a snap last year and dressed for only one game — as a third-string quarterback.
“If you ask any competitor if you take them out of their competitive realm and say you can’t do what you love to do, it’s going to be tough,” said Griffin, who impressed the Browns in a workout last week. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if that wasn’t tough on me last year.
“I just learned ... it’s a privilege to play the game and really just how much you have to love the game to go through some of the ups and downs that are presented to you in the NFL. And I’m looking forward to a lot more ups and growing.”
So what does Griffin’s second chance mean for the Browns at the game’s most important position?
They have the second overall pick and could still use it on one of the top-rated quarterbacks in this year’s class, California’s Jared Goff or North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz.
On Monday, Browns head of football operations Sashi Brown said acquiring Griffin, who’s 14-22 as an NFL starter, would not preclude the team from selecting a quarterback April 28.
“We were able to see and feel [Griffin’s] passion and commitment to re-establishing himself as a starting quarterback in this league and his embrace of the hard work that will be essential to his development,” Brown said in a news release. “We’ve been clear on the importance of improving and stabilizing the quarterback position for our franchise. We have said that the draft is and will be our primary focus, but we will always look to complement the draft through free agency, and this is one of those examples.”
Although Griffin’s contract reportedly includes $7 million in incentives and thus a maximum value of $22 million, his average annual salary of $7.5 million indicates the Browns view him as a bridge starter to the quarterback of the future. Griffin’s deal also reportedly includes a $750,000 roster bonus due on the third day of the 2017 league year, which could serve as de facto deadline for the Browns to part with him should their merger fail.
Browns coach Hue Jackson said Tuesday he told Griffin during their weekend rendezvous he should be prepared to compete against a rookie.
“Like every player on our team, Robert will have to earn every opportunity he gets,” Jackson reiterated in the release. “He will compete with the rest of the quarterbacks on our roster and he helps improve our QB room, which was one of my goals.”
But Griffin has been labeled a bad teammate who clashes with coaches, so some observers believe he’d sulk if forced to vie against a high-profile pick.
He insisted he would do the opposite.
“If they draft a quarterback, I’ll take the guy under my wing,” said Griffin, who has completed 63.9 percent of his career passes with 40 touchdowns, 23 interceptions and a passer rating of 90.6 to go along with 1,480 yards rushing yards and eight touchdowns. “I’m considered a vet now after four years in the league, and I’ve been through a lot more than a lot of guys go through their entire career. So I’ve got a lot of experience, and I can help a young guy. ... If they draft a quarterback, it doesn’t bother me at all. I’m just ready to compete.”
Asked about the importance of starting next season, Griffin said, “It’s not about me or my career. It’s about this team and growing with this team, and that’s what I set out to do.”
The Browns hope so. They have started 24 quarterbacks since 1999 and are back to square one after cutting problem child Johnny Manziel on March 11. They don’t need another circus.
They have Josh McCown on the roster, but Griffin’s arrival makes him expendable. McCown, 36, played much better last season than his 1-7 record as a starter suggests, and the Browns could receive interest for him from potential trade partners. The New York Jets, Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams have been labeled possible suitors.
The Browns also had interest in trading with the San Francisco 49ers for quarterback Colin Kaepernick, but those talks stalled weeks ago. He reportedly was reluctant to take a pay cut the Browns wanted him to accept, so they moved on.
Griffin was the target of another deal that didn’t pan out. When the Browns were led by former president Mike Holmgren, they tried to trade up in the draft for the No. 2 pick to select Griffin. But the Rams, who were based in St. Louis then, preferred Washington’s offer.
“Talking to my agent, we definitely thought that Cleveland was going to be where I ended up just because of the way everything looked like it was lining up,” Griffin said. “We were ready then, and we’re more than ready now.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.