He may no longer be considered a superstar in the making like he was after winning Rookie of the Year honors for the 2012 NFL season. But the Baltimore Ravens thought enough of Robert Griffin III to offer him a new contract, which the 28-year-old quarterback reportedly agreed to earlier this week.
Citing separate tweets from NFL Network reporters Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo, Bleacher Report wrote on Thursday that the Ravens will be re-signing Griffin to a two-year contract, almost one year after he first joined the team as a backup to Joe Flacco and an eventual mentor to 2018 first-round draft pick Lamar Jackson. As noted by Rapoport, it was Griffin’s “great presence” in the locker room and influence on Jackson that convinced Baltimore to offer him a longer contract, despite the strong possibility he will still be coming off the bench.
After signing a one-year contract for $1 million in April 2018, Robert Griffin III was originally slated as the Ravens’ No. 2 quarterback behind Flacco, though as ESPN pointed out, there was a time when his status with the team was in jeopardy due to Jackson’s arrival via the draft. While he played well in preseason action last year, “RG3” was essentially a third-stringer for most of the 2018 NFL season, as he attempted just six passes in three regular season games, according to his Pro Football Reference player page.
With the Ravens having traded Flacco to the Denver Broncos, Griffin is expected to move up on the depth chart as the team’s No. 2 signal-caller behind Jackson, who, like RG3, had won the Heisman Trophy during his collegiate career. Per Bleacher Report , Griffin’s re-signing could also see him continuing to mentor the 22-year-old Jackson, much like he has been doing since last year’s training camp.
“I’m trying to help nurture him as much as I possibly can, so that when he flies away, he is ready to fly away,” Griffin said in a 2018 interview with Sports Illustrated , as quoted by Bleacher Report . “Because when you watch it fly away, at that point it’s up to that bird.”
Ravens re-signing QB Robert Griffin III. (via @RapSheet ) pic.twitter.com/bQKKp7bMzP
— NFL (@NFL) March 21, 2019
Unless Jackson gets injured, it seems very unlikely that Griffin will have a chance to replicate the glowing numbers he posted as a rookie for the Washington Redskins in 2012. The former Baylor University quarterback threw 20 touchdown passes and only five interceptions for an even 3,200 yards and finished with a QB rating of 102.4 in his rookie year. However, injuries soon derailed his promising career and caused him to drop down to No. 3 on the Redskins’ depth chart behind Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy, as illustrated by NBC Sports .
Griffin then went on to play one season for the Cleveland Browns in 2016 prior to sitting out the entire 2017 NFL season as a free agent and signing with the Ravens last year.
