Here are three things the Baltimore Ravens absolutely shouldn’t do this offseason:
1. Trade Robert Griffin III:
The Baltimore Ravens should not trade Robert Griffin III this offseason. It’s an idea that has been gaining a lot of traction this week (It was talked about on the Ravens official website’s Late For Work article) yet it just doesn’t make sense. First of all, I have a hard time imagining a team is going to make it worth while with a draft pick in the first two or three rounds. Griffin III isn’t a starter stuck in an understudy role. He’s a backup quarterback. If a team offered a second round pick, Eric DeCosta would have to consider it, I just don’t see that happening.
The Ravens have the perfect backup to Lamar Jackson. If Griffin III needs to come in for a game or two, the Greg Roman won’t have to change the way he calls the offense. That’s an underrated quality. Because Jackson is such a unique starter you need a backup who can be a lite version of him.
Griffin can operate out of the pistol do all the zone reads and all of the stuff Jackson does at the mesh point. Griffin has some speed to play around with and there are much worse passers employed in the NFL. Trace McSorley can run the offense in the preseason. When the games count, give me the experience of Griffin III under center, if I have to have a game or two without the MVP.
Trading Griffin III just seems like a bad idea. It seems like a short sighted trade. You never know when you’ll need the backup quarterback. It’s funny that a team that constantly bats down questions over the sustainability of their starting quarterback would entertain the idea of trading one of the better backups in the league.
The Ravens have a very good dynamic between Jackson and Griffin III. The bottom line is that Griffin III is essentially an extension to the quarterback coach. Sometimes you can’t mess with a good thing. It would be hard to find a better backup situation than what the Ravens have right now.