The Ravens have a big decision to make today. They have several big decisions to make, but in a quarterback-driven league, the biggest decision becomes whether to keep Robert Griffin III on the roster.
The team openly has mused about whether to carry two or three quarterbacks on the roster. A Friday night tweet from a member of what Mark Leibovich calls the Nugget Industrial Complex carries the fingerprints of the Baltimore front office, via a vague suggestion that teams are suddenly “doing research” on Griffin (why wait until now?) and that a trade could still happen.
Insert dramatic hamster GIF here.
A trade would be far better for the Ravens than an outright release, for obvious reasons. But Griffin has no reason to go along with a trade unless he believes it’s a perfect destination; because he has more than four years of service, he wouldn’t be subject to waivers if released. So why not pick his next team as a free agent instead of being traded to a team that perhaps he has no interest in joining?
Adding to the Ravens’ angst is the ever-present possibility that starter Joe Flacco will be injured if Griffin is gone, leaving them without enough depth at the position. And, flipping it around, if they keep Griffin at the expense of a roster spot at another position and Flacco and Lamar Jackson remain healthy, the Ravens will be wasting space and cash on a luxury they don’t need (which is pretty much the definition of “luxury”).
So look for the Ravens to keep their eyes open as to all available options, waiting as long as possible to make a decision on a quarterback who spent all of 2017 out of football, and who may have done enough so far this year to merit a job somewhere in 2018.
