The Baltimore Ravens and quarterback Robert Griffin III were reported on Thursday to have reached an agreement in principle on a two-year deal. At the time, the terms of the contract were unknown. On Saturday, however, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that the deal is worth $4.5 million.
As of Friday, the Ravens’ official cap space was reported by ESPN’s Field Yates to be $16,229,481, the 17th-highest figure in the league. Following the signing of Griffin — and assuming his $4.5 million cap hit is evenly distributed over two years — Baltimore’s cap space should drop to $13,979,481.
Griffin saw very limited action with the Ravens in 2018, logging only 21 snaps and completing 2 of 6 passes for 21 yards. However, he flashed potential when given the chance in the preseason, completing 27 of 41 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns while adding another 52 rushing yards on 11 rushing attempts after a yearlong hiatus from football.
On paper, re-signing Griffin appears to be a shrewd move by the Baltimore front office. In addition to bringing continuity and veteran mentorship to the quarterbacks room by retaining Griffin, the re-signing fulfills Ravens coach John Harbaugh’s wish to have a backup quarterback with a similar skillset to Jackson. Should Jackson ever miss time as the starter, Baltimore could plug and play the mobile Griffin without having to modify their offensive packages.
