The Browns and quarterback Robert Griffin III have agreed to a deal that includes $6.75 million guaranteed.
Via multiple reports, it’s a two-year contract that has a $3.5 million signing bonus, $6.75 million guaranteed, a base value of $15 million and a maximum value with performance incentives of $22 million.
Is that a good deal? It depends on your perspective. It’s better than the contract the Browns’ incumbent starter, Josh McCown, has. So that strongly suggests that the Browns see Griffin as a replacement for McCown, and McCown is likely on the way out.
But it’s nothing remotely close to the deals that quarterbacks like Sam Bradford and Brock Osweiler have received this offseason, and it’s not even as good as the contract that Chase Daniel — who has started all of two games in his career — got from the Eagles.
Which means that if the Browns decide that a quarterback like Carson Wentz or Jared Goff is the right choice with the second overall pick in next month’s NFL draft, they can make that pick their franchise quarterback of the future. Griffin may be the Browns’ Week One starter for 2016, but they’re not married to him for the long haul.