Robert Griffin III, who has spent much of this NFL season campaigning for jobs, says he does not have one because he’s turned a few down.
The same free-agent quarterback who tried to pitch his way to the Texans after Deshaun Watson got hurt, who spent this summer flaunting his workouts on Instagram, now says that a few teams offered him contracts before the season, but those jobs weren’t right for him.
“I had an offer from Arizona and also from Baltimore,” Griffin said on ESPN’s “SC6” on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old, who just a few years ago looked like the future face of football, said the Cardinals were willing to give him a try, but he didn’t see a path to becoming their starter. And the Ravens reached out before a preseason game against the Redskins, with whom Griffin rose and fell, and he said he didn’t think he would have the practice time necessary to play well.
“In Arizona, the reason it wasn’t a good fit because they had already — Carson [Palmer] was there, I was willing to come in and learn behind an experienced veteran quarterback who’s done a lot of great things,” Griffin said, via Pro Football Talk. “They had the backup in [Drew] Stanton, they had also brought in Blaine Gabbert. Nobody lets four quarterbacks get practice time. That was the issue. It wasn’t the coach — the coach is a great coach, he’s a quarterback whisperer. And it’s a stable franchise.
“Baltimore was just, they offered me a contract right before the first preseason game, to start against the Redskins. Selfishly I could have taken that, to go play against them, but I knew I wouldn’t have been ready with that offense, with those guys, to put my best foot forward.”
Both his feet have been in neutral since he was released by the Browns in March. He said he loves the game, misses football and realized at the time he may not have gotten another offer this year. Now the question becomes whether he rejected his last chance at redemption.
“I had interest in the offseason,” Griffin said. “It just wasn’t the right fit and I had to make that decision for myself to say, ‘Look, if I don’t accept this offer, there’s a chance I won’t play football this year.’ And I would talk to my family, and I was OK with that, OK with the fact that it might happen.”
The Ravens were in desperate need of a backup behind Joe Flacco in the preseason, a spot Griffin might have had a chance to win. And the Cardinals are currently down to Gabbert as their starter because of injuries to Palmer and Stanton.
With some time on his hands, Griffin has been making the ESPN circuit this week — perhaps with an ulterior motive.
“I think Nick Foles can step in and get the job done,” Griffin said Tuesday about the Eagles, who lost star Carson Wentz. “I just think they need to solidify the quarterback room and get a guy behind him that’s experienced.”
Griffin might be talking himself into an Eagles offer … that he’ll quickly reject.