Colts owner Jim Irsay shouldn’t feel like he’s been singled out. Although quarterback Robert Griffin III has declined to submit to a private workout with the Colts, a source with knowledge of the situation tells PFT that he will submit to no private workouts.
(As I way typing this up, Adam Schefter was on ESPN saying the same thing.)
Still, there’s a sense that Griffin doesn’t want to go to Indianapolis, and that he prefers playing for the Redskins. Though Griffin would never say that, the reality is that, with a rookie wage scale, the first overall pick no longer is as significant as it used to be.
Far more significant in the first round than the first contract is the second contract. With Peyton Manning, the Colts forced him to complete every game of a six-year rookie contract and a seven-year second deal. This suggests that the Colts will milk the full amount of the five-year deal that the first pick will sign, before applying the franchise tag and/or signing the player to a long-term agreement.
In Washington, where owner Daniel Snyder has never enjoyed a franchise quarterback, chances are that he’d be inclined to extend Griffin with a market-value deal not long after his third NFL season, at which time rookie contracts can now be renegotiated. Besides, Griffin stands to make much more money via off-field endeavors in D.C., and he’ll be filling the much smaller shoes of Rex Grossman and John Beck.
So while Griffin is saying “no” to everyone, it’s likely that the tactic was aimed at keeping the Colts from saying his name with the first pick in the 2012 draft.