It sure seems like two teams are interested in signing Robert Griffin III. But don’t be too sure about it.
It also seems like two teams want to use Griffin as a tool to get the quarterback they really want. Right now, he isn’t as much a potential addition as he is a pawn.
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If that’s the case, then he’s fallen even further than anyone thought. At least if a team was going to talk to him as a free agent, it would be to see if it wants to actually sign him. But if it's talking to him just to gain leverage against its actual target, that does him and his future no good at all.
So keep an eye on what the Broncos and Jets do. Take note of how they’re interested in Griffin, but seem to “like” a couple of others much more.
The “like” for both, apparently, is Ryan Fitzpatrick. As pointed out earlier, he has his own pluses and minuses. Reportedly both the Broncos and Jets have a number in mind for him, and it’s not the number Fitzpatrick has in mind (and vice versa).
So, the Jets brought in Griffin to visit and talk and kick the tires, while everybody in the NFL knows that bringing back Fitzpatrick is at the top of their wish list.
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And the talk of the Broncos’ interest in Griffin continues, while news gets out that Fitzpatrick wanted more than the Broncos were offering him. And while speculation continues about them trading with the 49ers for Colin Kaepernick.
And … while they trade a conditional draft pick for Mark Sanchez.
Griffin’s sliding down two teams’ depth charts, and he’s not even on their rosters. Sliding behind players who, all things considered, shouldn’t be so much more appealing options than Griffin is.
Those are still the only two teams, out of reports of as many as 10, that have been named as having interest in him. The Jets are the only ones who have shown concrete public interest. But that would come to a quick halt if they get Fitzpatrick back, clearly.
Clearly, the same goes if Fitzpatrick and the Broncos agree. Or if Denver works a deal for Kaepernick. How a showdown with Sanchez for the starting job would play out is anyone's guess, but that doesn’t sound like it’s what the Broncos prefer.
On the other hand, as little leverage as he has at this point in his career, this can’t be what Griffin prefers — getting played by a team to draw in the quarterback it really wants.
Not just one, but two.