The New York Jets were thrown into crisis on the first possession of their first game of the 2023 NFL season, when newly acquired star quarterback Aaron Rodgers went down with a torn Achilles. The Jets somehow to still won, beating the Buffalo Bills on a walk-off punt return in a Week 1 stunner, but their long-term hopes suffered a huge setback with Rodgers’ season-ending injury.
Robert Griffin III pitched himself to Jets as the veteran QB they need on ESPN
Robert Griffin III thinks the Jets should sign Robert Griffin III to take over for Aaron Rodgers.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
It was quickly reported that the Jets would look into signing a veteran free agent quarterback after Rodgers’ injury to work behind Zach Wilson. There are some decent names on the market, including Cam Newton and Carson Wentz. As the topic was discussed on ESPN on Thursday morning, commentator Robert Griffin III put another unsigned QB in the mix: himself. Watch the clip here:
“Some of these guys like Carson Wentz, Cam Newton, Colin Kaepernick, myself, it’s not that we can’t play the game anymore, it’s that we’re a big distraction if you bring us in,” Griffin said. “I had a GM tell me this offseason, ‘hey man, I know you can still play, you look like you could still play, but if we bring you in it’s going to be a distraction for our starting quarterback.’ So now that your starter in Aaron Rodgers is out, you can potentially go and grab some of those guys.”
Griffin was an electric quarterback in his prime, winning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year back in 2012 with Washington. Unfortunately, his peak was cut short by a series of knee injuries. He hasn’t play in the NFL since 2020, and hasn’t thrown more than 40 passes in a season since 2016.
The former No. 2 overall draft pick from 2012 is still only 33 years old, but there’s a reason he’s talking about football instead of playing at this point in his life. The look by Griffin’s ESPN colleague, Dominique Foxworth, says it all.
Hey, we can’t fault RG3 for trying. You can’t get what you want unless you ask for it. The Jets almost certainly aren’t going to give Griffin a call, but it was worth a shot.
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