Griffin News & Views

News: The Browns sign Robert Griffin III to a two-year contract Thursday that could win up costing the team as much as $22 million if all bonuses, incentives and guarantees are met.

Views: They won’t be met as the Browns blunder yet again in another futile attempt to find their franchise quarterback.

The Third is a human piñata in a football uniform. He proved it in three seasons in Washington. And he’ll prove it again in Seal Brown and Orange for at least one season. If he lasts that long.

Some say don’t get too upset with this signing because they believe The Third will be nothing more than a bridge quarterback to whomever the Browns select with the second choice in next month’s college football draft.

The news of the signing came quickly on the heels of two more coaching endorsements Wednesday. He picked up hearty recommendations from Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians and Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer.

That makes three National Football League coaches – Washington’s Jay Gruden checked in Tuesday – in the last couple of days to put their stamp of approval of the defrocked Redskins quarterback.

“Personality-wise, it will be a great fit,” said Arians of a Hue Jackson-Griffin connection. “And I wish him all the best. Both of them.”

Unfortunately, personalities do not win football games. Talent and making big plays do. And right now, The Third’s talent quotient and ability to make big plays are in question.

That’s because even at 6-2, 220 pounds, he is like a China doll. He breaks too easily. His litany of injuries in three seasons – he has been around for four, but did not play last season – reads like that of a six- or seven-year veteran.

Football is not a contact sport. Dancing is a contact sport. Football is a collision sport and The Third has been on the wrong end of way too many of them in his brief career.

Arians pulled back somewhat when asked if The Third could recapture the glory of his excellent rookie season that featured the read option. “Not without getting injured,” he said. “Sooner or later, you’re going to get injured. But I think he can play quarterback in the league.”

Zimmer, whose expertise lies on the defensive side of the football, said signing The Third “would be a smart move. Hue is great with quarterbacks and when you have a talented guy, these guys don’t fall off the face of the earth.”

Well . . . that’s kind of what has happened to The Third the last two seasons. He went from NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2012 to free agent in four years.

Now that he has signed with the Browns, anyone else want to join the endorsement parade? Maybe Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who ran the Redskins’ offense when The Third was a rookie. Or New England coach Bill Belichick, who has an opinion on just about anything NFL.

Enough already with the endorsements, the piling on. Just know coaches stand by coaches. It’s a fraternity loaded with mutual respect. When you understand that, then maybe their words lose some of their meaning.

The Third will be nothing more than starting quarterback No. 25 for the Browns in 17 seasons since the resurrection in 1999. From Ty Detmer to Austin Davis, it is an embarrassingly long list of those who have tried and failed to bring quality football to Cleveland.

Browns fans will discover soon enough that quarterback No. 26 is not far behind.