In a move that was expected, the Cleveland Browns released quarterback Robert Griffin III on Friday. Griffin was due a $750,000 roster bonus on Saturday.

Griffin thanked the team and the fan base in a goodbye tweet: 

The 27 year old quarterback spent one season in Cleveland and didn’t have success during his tenure. Head coach Hue Jackson hoped he could revitalize Griffin’s career but things didn’t go as planned.

Griffin broke a bone in his shoulder in the season opener against Philadelphia and was forced to miss the next 11 games. 

He returned Week 14 against Cincinnati and while his stats would say he was improving but he didn’t show any sign of being a long term option for the team. 

In five starts, Griffin completed 59.2% of his passes for 886 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He also rushed for 138 yards and two touchdowns.

I’m sure a team will look at Griffin as a potential backup option, the New York Jets could also look at him as a bridge QB until they can find their franchise QB for the long term. 

Griffin has some good skills that a team would like for in a quarterback but his durability has been questioned throughout his career.

The organization will continue to search for a franchise quarterback. They own the first and twelfth overall picks in the NFL draft and have been linked to the top prospects Mitchell Trubisky, Deshaun Watson and DeShone Kizer.

They’ve also been linked to New England backup Jimmy Garoppolo despite New England’s stance on not wanting to trade him. A recent report says the Patriots want the first overall pick as well as next year’s first round pick from the Browns. 

I don’t think the Browns would even consider that proposal but the team owns three first round picks and five second round picks over the next two drafts so I think a deal could get done but New England needs to lower their price.