Scot McCloughan met with the media today to talk about the Redskins strategy heading into the 2015 NFL Draft, which begins this Thursday with the highly anticipated first round where Washington holds the No. 5 overall pick. This is the first first round pick the Redskins will have to play with since drafting Robert Griffin III in 2012. Speaking of the current starting quarterback of the Washington Redskins, McCloughan announced that they are going to exercise the 2016 option on RGIII as was reported earlier today by NFL Network’s Albert Breer.
According to the Redskins’ GM, the decision was arrived at awhile back because he has “good tape,” including extraordinary playmaking ability back in the 2012 season. The hope is that with a full offseason and going into his second year in Jay Gruden’s system, Griffin shows flashes of his rookie year brilliance that the franchise can continue to build around. Clearly this is a $16.2 million financial risk that the Redskins are going to take as they plan to officially announce their intentions to the league on Monday, May 4. The Redskins clearly did not want to gamble of not having control of his contract for 2016.The $16.2 million is guaranteed for injury only. Thus, the Redskins could cut ties with the former Offensive Rookie of the Year winner prior to the 2016 season in March and face no salary cap ramifications. In comparison to placing a franchise tag on a quarterback, the price tag associated with the position in the latest cycle was a whopping $18.5 million and estimated to be in the ballpark of $20 million next season. The one problem going forward for the Redskins moving forward regarding their signal caller will be looking to extend his contract beyond the 2016 season if they are committed to Griffin. Unless Griffin begins looking like a hall of famer, the Redskins would look to negotiate a pay cut even though the Baylor product will still presumably be a player they would want to build around.
Although the news about Griffin was the breaking news coming out of Redskins Park today, McCloughan scheduled this reason for the original purpose of discussing the upcoming draft and here is what you need to know:
- McCloughan would love to increase his current seven draft pick selections to double digits if possible.
- The Redskins are open to evaluating all possible trade scenarios but will not jump at anything without thinking they are going to be in a better place afterwards.
- The Redskins draft board will be set Thursday morning and the only thing that will change things around are possible trade situations.
- McCloughan loves individuals with size, intelligence, a competitive spirit, passion toughness, and strength.
- McCloughan will not hesitate to draft players at current positions of strength or depth such as quarterback or defensive line.
- No substantial headway has been made on contract extensions with Ryan Kerrigan or Trent Williams.
- McCloughan believes there is more talent on this team currently compared to the San Francisco 49ers team he inherited.
- There are currently no trade offers for Kirk Cousins.
- McCloughan stands by his decisions to bring in players like Chris Culliver and DaShon Goldson.
I will leave you with a prediction of the result of the Redskins pick at #5 overall. Assuming no trade down scenarios (although there are rumors linking the Cleveland Browns having a desire to move up), the Washington Redskins will draft Dante Fowler, an edge rusher out of the University of Florida, assuming Leonard Williams is not available.