Robert Griffin III is certainly not starting for the Washington Redskins Week 1, which probably means the second pick of the 2012 draft won’t be playing with the team who drafted him much longer. That means there are any number of teams who would be willing to take a chance on the 2011 Hesiman Trophy winner. Here are the 32 best options, RANKED.
32. Green Bay Packers
31. Indianapolis Colts
30. New Orleans Saints
29. New England Patriots
You know who isn’t (currently) playing the first four games of the season? Tom Brady. You know who is available? Robert Griffin III. Bill Belichick is crazy, he isn’t insane. Or is he?
(Getty Images)
28. Pittsburgh Steelers
27. Denver Broncos
26. San Diego Chargers
25. Arizona Cardinals
All of these teams have excellent starting quarterbacks, but what if one should go down injured? The Arizona Cardinals were forced to trot out a quarterback most thought was the team’s punter last season. Is a fake punter really better than Griffin? I dunno, maybe. Probably.
USA TODAY Sports
24. Seattle Seahawks
23. Atlanta Falcons
22. Carolina Panthers
21. New York Giants
Griffin wouldn’t have thrown an interception on the goal line with the Super Bowl in the balance. That’s because Griffin would have already been sacked.
USA TODAY Sports
20. Detroit Lions
19. Baltimore Ravens
18. Miami Dolphins
17. San Francisco 49ers
It would be a most diabolical move should John Harbaugh take RG3 as the Ravens backup quarterback.
USA TODAY Sports
16. Chicago Bears
15. Minnesota Vikings
14. Cincinnati Bengals
13. St. Louis Rams
Jeff Fisher has already shown his willingness to rub the horrible decision to trade away three first round picks for Griffin in the face of the Redskins. This would be the perfect ending to a four-year troll.
AP
12. Oakland Raiders
11. Tampa Bay Bucaneers
10. Cleveland Browns
9. Jacksonville Jaguars
It’s a weird reality to know you have either Derek Carr, Jameis Winston, Josh McCown, and Blake Bortles and realize that you aren’t in the worst scenario.
USA TODAY Sports
8. Tennessee Titans
7. Dallas Cowboys
6. Buffalo Bills
5. Philadelphia Eagles
The Titans and Cowboys have put their futures on the shoulders of Marcus Mariota and Tony Romo respectively (though you can’t help but wonder if RG3 belongs in Jerry World), but the Bills and Eagles quarterback corps is spotty at best. Sam Bradford is one misplaced divot away from disaster and no one really believes Matt Cassel is long for Buffalo, right? Pair Griffin with Chip Kelly or Rex Ryan and you have the makings of both an incredible buddy cop movie and a probably okay quarterback/coach tandem.
AP
4. Houston Texans
3. Toronto Argonauts
2. New York Jets
Houston seems like a great landing spot for Griffin. Brian Hoyer will never be the answer and Griffin could return home to Texas and start fresh under the tutelage of Bill O’Brien. That said, there’s nothing in O’Brien’s past that would indicate he wants a read-option quarterback or the distraction Griffin would surely bring.
Enter the New York Jets, who thrive on drama and recently lost their starting quarterback because he got punched in the face. If anything, Griffin has proven himself capable of taking a hit over, and over, and over, and over again and is used to not getting proper protection.
Getty
1. Kansas City Chiefs
There would be a certain amount of symmetry should Griffin align himself with Andy Reid in Kansas City. Reid was after all the coach behind Donovan McNabb in Philadelphia before Reid was fired and McNabb went to Washington and performed so poorly that Mike Shanahan was willing to mortgage the team’s future to replace him – with Griffin.
If there is anyone capable of resuscitating a career, it’s Reid. Look at his current work with perennial game manager Alex Smith or the job he did bringing back Michael Vick. With Smith already in place, Reid would have the time to develop Griffin off the field, in an environment where he won’t have pressure to get results immediately. There’s no need to be all in for Week 1 in 2015 or ’16. Griffin gets the time he needs to develop and Reid gets a suitable replacement for Smith when the time comes.
USA TODAY Sports
