If RGIII is available, the Eagles should swoop
I'm not saying the Eagles coach Chip Kelly is unhappy with either Nick Foles or Mark Sanchez going forward as the quarterback he wants to continue his program with.
With the Eagles involved in a December Playoff Push, the last thing on Kelly's "task at hand" mind is who is going to be the No.1 quarterback at the start of the 2015 training camp.
Still after listening to Kelly talk about how Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson used his mobility to extend plays and make something out of nothing in the Seahawks 24-14 victory over the Eagles on Sunday, it was easy to sense a little wanting.
Kelly has never said that he needed a quarterback with running ability for him to orchestrate his offense.
He's never said that the "read/option," "zone read" or anything else was the feature of his offense.
Still when you see how Kelly added a running dimension to his attack simply because Sanchez was slightly more mobile when he took over for the injured Foles, you have to believe Kelly would love to open his full playbook if he had a quarterback with a skill-set like Wilson.
With a Super Bowl championship and another playoff bid within reach, Seattle is not letting Wilson leave the Pacific Northwest anytime soon. The Seahawks will reward him with a healthy long-term deal.
But if Kelly really wants to add a multi-dimensional quarterback talent into the Eagles mix, why not take a flyer on the guy who once considered the new generation of NFL quarterbacks – Robert Griffin III.
It seems that in two short seasons, the No.2 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft has fallen from NFL Offensive Rookie-of-the-Year and Pro Bowl quarterback to persona non-gratis with the Washington football franchise.
There is lots of speculation in D.C. that after being benched in the last two seasons by two different coaches for ineffective play, Griffin III maybe considered a bust and that the team will cut ties after the season and move in another direction.
If that becomes the case, the Eagles should swoop in and try to make a deal.
Talk about Griffin's trade value has centered around a conditional mid-round pick that could be upgraded based on performance.
I'd offer a third-round pick with the willingness to upgrade to a second-round or perhaps even a first if RGIII looks like he might be a player who just needed a change of scenery.
I think it would be worth the risk of a third-round pick just to take the chance that Kelly could turn things around for the former Heisman Trophy winner who is still just 24 years old.
The Eagles might use a second or third round pick in the 2015 Draft on a quarterback prospect anyway. No prospect in that range will have the raw potential of Griffin III.
It would definitely be worth a second pick or even a first-round pick, if Kelly could indeed locate and then unleash the amazing upside that might still be somewhere residing in Griffin III.
A third-rounder just to look; upgrade to a second or first if it worked out.
All-in-all that would not be much to get a legitimate franchise-level quarterback.
Kelly might be just the coach to do it.
So far he's taken Foles, a square peg in a round hole for his offense, and made a marginal prospect into a Pro Bowl MVP and possible franchise quarterback.
He picked Sanchez, whose legacy was tied to a humiliating "Butt-Fumble", off the scrap heap and made him into at worst a valuable veteran backup quarterback and more likely one who will get a chance to start for someone next season.
Kelly has already shown he knows how to get the most out of quarterbacks.
Maybe Griffin III actually is one of those players whose unfulfilled potential gets coaches fired. Maybe like anonymous teammates have suggested his nickname should be RG-Me.
But there would be no real risk.
The Eagles would still have Foles under contract, and as last year showed with Michael Vick being on the roster, he is not afraid of competition.
In fact, Foles beating out an RGIII-type talent would only solidify his stature as the Eagles quarterback of the future – which would be a positive.
The Eagles locker room is too strong for a knucklehead, even a quarterback, to poison. And as the case of Pro Bowl wide receiver DeSean Jackson showed, Kelly will not hesitate to jettison someone who does not buy into the program.
But what if Kelly can bring back out in Griffin III what was seen during his rookie season? What if the experience in Washington has humbled RGIII and he's embarrassed and ready to make a commitment to be all that he can be?
Some Eagle fans have already pipe-dreamed ways for the Eagles to move up to the No.1 spot and draft Oregon quarterback and Kelly protégé Marcus Mariota.
That would cost the Eagles a king's ransom, just as it cost Washington when it move up from sixth to second to draft Griffin III.
Trading with Washington for Griffin III would not and he might actually still have as much if not more untapped potential than Mariota.
RGIII's 2015 salary of $3.1 million is less than a million more than the Eagles paid Sanchez ($2.1 million) to be the backup in 2014. Foles is scheduled to make $660,000 next season.
Adding Griffin III would be doable with making a significant hit to the salary cap.
Seattle drafted Wilson with the 12th pick in the third round of the 2012 Draft – 75th overall and 13 spots before Foles.
When you look at what Wilson did to the Eagles on Sunday, can you not see that it would be worth a third-round pick just to see if you could get a player rated high enough to be drafted 73 picks before him?
When you think about what this offense would look like If Kelly could revive Griffin's career and maximize his potential, wouldn't that be worth upgrading a trade to a second-round pick?
Maybe Washington won't give up on Griffin III, but if it does, I'd be willing to take a look and might bid a little higher than most to get a deal done.