Robert Griffin III to be released by the Cleveland Browns

Robert Griffin III, once one of the league’s rising young stars, is a free agent once again. The dual-threat, oft-injured quarterback is reportedly getting released by the Cleveland Browns just a day after the team traded for Brock Osweiler.

The team had to move on Griffin fast for monetary reasons:

The money-saving move ends Griffin’s disappointing tenure in Cleveland. He played only five games with the Browns, but won one more game (one) than the rest of the team’s starting passers. He was due to count $8.7 million against the team’s salary cap this fall, a raise from the $5.2 million he had cost in 2016.

For more than $1 million per appearance, the Browns got a passer with a 72.5 rating -- worse than every starting quarterback in the league but Osweiler and Ryan Fitzpatrick. Griffin was brought to Cleveland in hopes of reviving his career and a moribund franchise. Neither came to fruition.

Injury concerns stripped him of his starting role in Washington after bursting onto the scene as the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year, then helped chase him out of Ohio. While it was lower body injuries that robbed him of his effectiveness and efficiency in the NFC, a shoulder injury cut his time as the Browns’ starter tragically short.

Griffin was injured in the fourth quarter of the first regular season game he played with the team, breaking a bone in his non-throwing shoulder after refusing to slide at the tail end of a scramble.

That kept him out of action until December, where he was forced to sit and watch his team stumble out to an 0-12 start. He was behind center for the team’s only win of the year, a 20-17 win over San Diego, but didn’t add much despite the victory. He passed for just 164 yards and failed to find the end zone on the nadir of the Chargers’ season. He left that game in the fourth quarter thanks to another injury — this time a concussion.

Griffin failed to live up to his potential in Cleveland, instead perpetuating concerns about his ability to effectively play quarterback while avoiding injury. His stock is reaching an all-time low; a common symptom of those dumped by the Browns. While he’ll likely find a home for the 2017 season, he’s got plenty to prove if he wants to avoid being just another tantalizing “what if” story.