RGIII Officially Signs

Washington Commanders
Mark Solway

Perhaps the most long awaited contract signature in the last two decades for Redskins Nation, finally happened.

Robert Griffin III signed what has been reported as a 4-year, $21M+ guaranteed contract. Not bad for a 22-year old – it had to feel like winning the 6 million dollar jackpot at Party Casino. Now that the ink on his rookie contract has dried and Griffin is locked up, it’s time to start settling into his franchise quarterback role on the football field.

Mark it down on your calendars Redskins fans, it may go down as the biggest signing in franchise history – then again, it might not. This is after all, where the real work starts.

This is what separates the boys from the men in the National Football League. Much speculation and conjecture about the Redskins’ future, has been put forth since the draft in April. So far RGIII has passed with flying colors.

With rookie camp open this week, and training camp just a week away, Redskins fans will finally get a glimpse of their shiny new toy in action. Fresh off a college season that saw him eat up most of the nation’s top hardware, including the Heisman Trophy, Griffin gets to start again – from the beginning.

Sure he will get somewhat of a pass because of the shear magnitude of his star power, but you can bet that the youngster will have some hazing coming his way, and you can bet that there will be some big dinner checks coming to the Baylor product, thanks to that fat new contract.

The contract has almost $14M in guaranteed up front, bonus money; plus base salaries escalating from $390K this season, to $3.26M in 2015. In 2015, RGIII’s cap hit will be approximately $6.7M.

It has been reported that the hang-up on contract talks has been offset language. Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams are permitted to use offset language in a contract, that then forces any team that might pick up Griffin in the four years that he’s under contract, to absorb some of the guaranteed money left in the existing contract. In the end, the Redskins allowed RGIII and agent Ben Dogra, to have no offset language in the contract.

The move isn’t very ‘significant’ to the Redskins on this contract, in that RGIII isn’t likely going anywhere in the next four years. It is significant to the rest of the league however, in that this offset language has become a critical part of the owner’s negotiating tactics, and the Redskins just set a new precedent of a contract WITHOUT these offset language clauses. That might upset some other league owners, but it isn’t likely that Dan Snyder will feel much guilt or remorse for the 30 owners that stabbed him in the back over Cap Gate.

Regardless, Griffin’s signing leaves third rounder Josh LeRibeus as the only 2012 draft pick not yet signed by Washington. The signing also leaves a very hungry Redskins Nation even hungrier.

After all, our new stud quarterback is under contract until 2015, and the dawning of a new era has officially begun.

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