Did the Washington Redskins Overpay For Robert Griffin III?

The Washington Redskins have decided to put all their chips in, as the completed trade with the St. Louis Rams will yield two future first round picks and this year’s second round pick to move four spots to select Robert Griffin III with the number two pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. Give credit to the Redskins, a team that's never been afraid to throw money at their problems. In this case, the Redskins threw their future draft picks at their problem, but as what's always the case...did the Skins overspend to get their guy?

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The biggest haul before this was what San Diego gave up (Chargers traded Eric Metcalf, Patrick Sapp, number three overall, #33 overall, and 1999 first rounder for the number two overall pick to select Ryan Leaf) for the rights to Ryan Leaf at  number two, or what the Colts gave up (Indianapolis traded Chris Hinton, second-year receiver Andre Rison, next year’s first rounder, and the #121 pick, for the #83 pick and the number one overall pick to select Jeff George) for Jeff George at number one. This current deal dwarfs those by at least one more first rounder. It also seems to me that the price paid has little to do with how the player turned out. However, it did likely have to do with how desperate the franchise was to provide hope.

The key wording there is at the end of the quote, desperation...hope. The Redskins have repeatedly (and blindly) thrown their financial resources at their issues, at times, in an act of desperation to win immediately. Of course, Redskins fans were initially open to the changes, but now, they  just live with a false sense of hope anytime Daniel Snyder goes sign someone for $20 million more than they're worth.

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Of course, the other scary thing is that Robert Griffin III could end up like the highly desired, but inexplicably terrible quarterbacks that were traded for in Leaf and George; both blessed with insane talent, but never had the mental capacity to actually be worth a damn. Griffin's mental isn't in question, but you wonder if the stench of Washington's losing past will suck in RG3 and spit him out just like every other quarterback in 'Skins history after Mark Rypien took the snaps.

Pray, Skins fans. That's all you can do at this point...pray.

3 Replies to Did the Washington Redskins Overpay For Robert Griffin III?

1. DL says:

   10/03/2012 at 7:36 pm

   Good comment by dduggs, I agree. In 5 years if the Redskins are in the playoffs and RG3 is a pro bowler then this will be a moot point, but look at the two QBs that are mentioned in the article...Jeff George? Ryan Leaf? QB is the ultimate crapshoot, and its either boom or bust. Ballsy move by Washington, gotta hope it pays off.

2. dduggs says:

   10/03/2012 at 7:22 pm

   This is a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Had the Redskins sat quietly with their No. 6 pick and missed out on one of the top 3 quarterbacks, people would question what the hell they were doing. If the Redskins said, forget it, we're going to stick with Rex because "he knows the offense" as they tried to convince us of last season, people would question what the hell they were doing. If the Redskins waited and tried to pick up at QB through free agency and brought in an older guy, people would still question what the hell they were doing.

   The point driven into the ground last season was "the Redskins need a young quarterback." (Well that plus WRs). So they did what they had to do and the situation called for a risky move. Of course this could turn out to be a bust, but it could turn out to be one of the million things they needed to do in order to establish some stability that we haven't seen in 20 years. I'm pretty sure whether next season is moderately positive or tragic, people will still question what the hell they are doing.

   I'm cautiously optimistic - as I always am.

3. DNKB says:

   10/03/2012 at 7:04 pm

   I say yes only because the organization has not shone in over a decade it knows what to do with quality talent. They have had some decent teams in recent years but they have failed. Until they figure out why THAT is RGIII won't have the desired impact.