Should the Redskins do the deal now?

By Rich Tandler

There are some rumblings out there that the Redskins and Rams could complete a deal for St. Louis’ first draft pick, the second overall, prior to the start of free agency. That would allow the Redskins to draft quarterback Robert Griffin III. Any deal could not be formally done until the start of the league year on March 13 but there is nothing prevents the two teams from negotiating a deal and then filing the handshake arrangement with the league as soon as they can.

There are advantages to both sides to getting a deal done sooner rather than later, presuming that the Redskins have decided that RG3 is their guy before his pro day, before working him out, and before having him into Redskins Park for a formal interview. It is possible that that is the case as in 2006, Mike Shanahan moved up in the draft to take quarterback Jay Cutler without having met with him or having seen him throw in person.

The big advantage to the Redskins would be certainty. They will have filled their biggest need prior to the start of free agency. They will know what kind of contract Griffin will get so they can adjust their available salary cap money accordingly. They can skip getting in on the Peyton Manning bidding and not overpay Kyle Orton. The talent evaluators will be able to stop watching film of Ryan Tannehill and Brandon Weeden and start focusing on players the Redskins actually will draft. And any potential free agent receivers the Redskins might try to attract will know they will be catching passes from the dynamic Griffin and not the tag team of Grossman and Beck.

The advantage to the Rams could be that the rights to RG3 might not ever get higher than they are right now. The number of suitors could decline when quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning (assuming the Colts release him) and Matt Flynn land. Generally speaking, a lowered demand for the pick could lead to a lower price. It could be advantageous to them to take the proverbial bird in the hand instead of chasing after more that might not be there down the road.

There also are advantages to both sides letting the process play out. The Redskins can give RG3 a more in-depth look and also talk to other prospects. If the value of the rights to Griffin is at its highest point now, the Redskins could end up overpaying in exchange for certainty. The Rams could see if  the value goes up further after Griffin throws on his pro day later in March.

Under most circumstances trades involving draft picks take place closer to draft day than to the start of the league year. We will see if this situation is extraordinary enough to push the deal to be completed and formalized sooner rather than later.

Rich Tandler blogs about the Redskins at www.RealRedskins.com. You can reach him by email at RTandlerCSN@comcast.net and follow him on Twitter @Rich_Tandler. 

 

Comments

[Sand2Stone]

I can see the advantage of getting a deal done early. However, I wonder if they would feel better waiting until after his pro day and any individual workout with the team before making the trade or if they feel they've seen enough already to justify it?

[Jeff Harmon]

1. The Redskins should not do the trade at all. So let me get this straight, there is actually a logical justification for getting a player that will likely only finish maybe 2 or 3 full seasons his entire career. Griffin is injury prone, I don't care how much he weighs or how tall he is, because none of that is going to change that fact. He has been injured or hurt half of his college career already, do you honestly expect him to hold up better once he's in the NFL? If you think so your delusional. So is a injury prone guy really worth 4 high round picks? In my opinion No.

2. I hope since Fischer and Shanahan are buddies this is only a favor amongst friends to drive the price up for the Browns to give the Rams the optimum amount of picks for the no.2 overall pick and that Shanahan has no real interest is giving up that many picks for one injury prone player.

3. Fans are excited about Robert Griffin III coming here until they will be forced to realize that by doing so this team will have no choice but to rely on over priced older veteran players for at least two years making this team once again old and top cap heavy. This is change? Giving away draft picks and paying for over the hill over priced free agents? Because this is sounding like more of the same to me. This is Vinny Cerrato logic at its best and I hope Redskin fans and the organization realize this soon. If not, this team will be a disaster and riddled with overpriced over the hill players again.

People who never learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The Redskins seem to have not learned from their past mistakes and will not succeed until they consistently do.

[PremiumSeater]

It is so tempting to want to do the deal to get it over with and have hope that we can finally awaken from this 20 year quarterback nightmare. Having said that, I've also had enough of selling the future and then hoping to buy it back through free agency. I love last years draft and free agency results. No obvious mistakes, more plus than minus, no over hyped man-divas and no unnecessary drama from any of the new faces at Redskins park. At some point, though, the dice have to be rolled. I just hope that the results are better on this throw than they've been in the past. Bottom line, I'm still not sure which path is the right path for the Redskins. I just hope Mike Shanahan does.

[Travis Jordan]

And here I thought that I was a harDcore skeptic.
Jeff Harmon, I obviously 'have nothing on you'.

Skeptical as I am, I do recognize that there are times when one must simply ‘roll the dice’ and go ‘all in’…
F*** ME if I can’t take a joke – 'ALL IN'.

RG3 is not ‘Hayneworth-less’… RG3 actually has a strong moral character to go along with his immense talent. That in itself earns my approval of acquiring him by virtually any means necessary.

Jeff, have you even bothered to download any Baylor games and study the guy [RG3] as I have?
The kid is ‘NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH’ – PLUS he’s not a pompous swelled-headed ‘jackass in the making’ like Cam Newton.

A good quarterback HAS TO [along with talent] have the charisma to make everyone else in the locker room ‘BELIEVE’...
‘BELIEVE’ to the point where they would all happily ‘FOLLOW HIM TO HELL AND BACK’ if necessary.
RG3 has that ‘IT’ factor that can make everyone else BELIEVE that no deficit cannot be overcome.

Towards that end, we could even do a ‘Ditka’ or ‘Herschel Walker type’ trade for all that I care.
RG3 is the QB that we need. End of story.

[Travis Jordan]

Additionally, there is much unrecognized talent on this team...
They just need to go 'all in'and simply [finally] BELIEVE!

[Travis Jordan]

LEAVE 'EVERYTHING' ON THE FIELD OF PLAY...