RGIII Signing Creates more Questions than Answers for Browns

One of the NFL’s most polarising free agents has finally found a home for 2016. Robert Griffin III – one time Rookie of the Year turned social outcast in Washington – has signed a two-year, $15 million deal with the quarterback-starved Cleveland Browns. But unlike most high-profile signings, this one has sprouted more questions than answers.

The first lies with the quarterback position itself. With the Browns still firmly gripping the number two overall pick, does the franchise feel confident enough to roll with RGIII as the starter, or will it hedge its bets and draft Griffin’s training camp competitor in a month’s time?

On the one hand, a bevy of talented signal callers isn’t exactly a bad problem to have. On the other, the team has so many holes in so many places that it may consider this free agency move to be enough to a stop gap to warrant drafting a more polished prospect to play another position.

But to assume any quarterback could have success in the 2016 iteration of the Browns offense is equal parts blind and stupid. The Browns didn’t exactly boast a fearsome offensive line last season, but now guard Mitchell Schwartz is in Kansas City, center Alex Mack is in Atlanta, and whispers that All-Pro LT Joe Thomas could be traded before the draft still abound.

So that’s Cleveland’s second-best and third-best O-lineman kicked out of town, and the future of its best blocker – if not, player – still very much in doubt. That issue compounds with a quarterback like Griffin, who has shown he can’t take a hit to save his life (literally) and still has no idea how to slide.

Griffin will be playing in a division that, when healthy, boasts three of the most effective blitzing teams in the league. For RGIII, taking a brutal hit will be a matter of “when,” not “if.” If Griffin truly is to be starter come opening week, both he and the team around him have a lot of work to do before they can field a competent offense next season.