November 18, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham (80) tries to break free from Oakland Raiders cornerback Mike Mitchell (34) after making a catch in the fourth quarter at O.co Coliseum. The Saints defeated the Raiders 38-17. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Before Who Dat Nation gets all indignant at the audacity of considering Jimmy Graham might somehow leave the New Orleans Saints, please remember this is merely presenting an idea based on the fact he is a free agent next year.  Graham figures to become one of the premier targets in 2014 and a bidding war should kick off if his current team can’t find the money to pay him.

New Orleans Saints searching for salary cap relief for Graham

Based on current numbers the New Orleans Saints overtook the Dallas Cowboys in salary cap problems.  Though they squeezed under the cap this year thanks to some restructured contracts they are not looking good after the 2013 season.  Looking ahead to 2014 they will have over $143 million committed to their roster.  That is almost $20 million over the current 2013 cap.  While experts see a slight bump coming next year it will not go that high.  Put simply, New Orleans is in for some big changes.  The worst part is a number of key players are set to become free agents by then.  Linebacker Jonathan Vilma and center Brian De La Puente are both expecting new deals, but the big fish of the bunch is Pro Bowl tight end Jimmy Graham.  His importance to the Saints offense cannot be understated.

Missing only one game last season he put up 982 yards and 9 touchdowns.  Another great year means his price will skyrocket, perhaps to a point where the Saints can’t pay it or will have to gut a good part of their roster to do so.  The franchise tag will likely become an option.  Then again, based on his production Graham has an excellent argument to classify himself as a wide receiver, which would bump the number from $6 million to $10 million.  For a cash-strapped team, that is a huge difference.  If Graham takes this route then his likelihood of hitting the open market goes up considerably.

Redskins and Robert Griffin III waiting on Fred Davis

When that happens the sharks will circle almost immediately.  One team that figures to enter that sweepstakes is the Washington Redskins.  Their owner Daniel Snyder has no qualms about spending big in free agency if he thinks it will help his team win. Washington couldn’t do that this off-season because of a salary cap penalty installed by the NFL against the Redskins and Cowboys for overspending during the uncapped 2010 season.  That penalty expires next year.  By then Snyder and head coach Mike Shanahan should have plans for a very aggressive approach in free agency.  As it stands the team will pay 48 players on the current roster.  That could leave them with somewhere around $36 million in cap space to spend.  Their interest in Jimmy Graham at that point depends on the future of tight end Fred Davis.  Early in the 2012 season he developed a strong connection with star rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III.  Sadly a torn Achilles ended his year.  The Redskins, devoid of finding a replacement, brought Davis back on a cheap one-year deal in hopes he returns to form.  If he can’t, then tight end becomes a big hole for the team to fill.  Snyder won’t hesitate about pressing for the 27-year old Graham.

Everything rests on how far the Saints are willing to go to keep him in New Orleans.

Jan 6, 2013; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III (10) drops back to pass during the second half of the NFC Wild Card playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks at FedEx Field. The Seahawks won 24-14. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

Robert Griffin III beat out Andrew Luck for the Heisman Trophy in 2011/2012, and in 2012/13, he beat him out for the NFL’s offensive rookie of the year.

Griffin was one of the most exciting players in the NFL as a rookie before tearing up his knee in the playoffs, leading the Redskins to an NFC East title and taking them from being one of the worst teams in the league to one of the most promising. He beat out not only Andrew Luck but Seattle’s Russell Wilson.

The former Heisman winner out of Baylor was selected second in the 2012 NFL Draft, and came in with pretty high expectations. He lived up to those expectations by passing for 3,200 yards with 20 touchdowns and just five interceptions. Griffin also ran for 815 yards and seven touchdowns in his rookie campaign.

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Luke Kuechly of the Carolina Panthers was also named AP Defensive Rookie of the Year Saturday night. Kuechly had 164 tackles and two interceptions in his first year for the Panthers after a collegiate career where he was one of the most productive tacklers in college football history.

Both Griffin III and Kuechly entered the 2012 NFL Draft as underclassmen, and were top 10 picks.

September 9, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III (10) throws against the New Orleans Saints during the first half of a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Redskins defeated the Saints 40-32. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

What a great NFL Sunday, wasn’t it? There is so much to touch on, but how about my picks from this weekend? Not so good, thus far. I picked New York on Wednesday night, so my current “pick ‘em” record sits at 8-6 this week, but I’m okay with that. How many people thought the Niners would go into Green Bay and get a big victory? I wasn’t on board that train, but a great win by the Niners nonetheless.

When you talk about rookies, this weekend was probably as big a weekend as any the NFL has seen. Five rookie starting quarterbacks took the field on Sunday for their respective teams, a record and something this league has never seen before. The clear-cut week one winner for top rookie was Washington’s Robert Griffin III, who went into a hostile environment in New Orleans, and came out with not only a victory, but one of the highest quarterback ratings among quarterbacks in the league at 139.9.

Griffin looked poised, calm, and showed those playmaking skills he displayed in his Heisman Trophy campaign last year at Baylor. He completed 19 of 26 passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns, including an 88 yard strike to Pierre Garcon on his first pass. Griffin wasn’t the only rookie in the Redskins’ backfield that showed promise, though. Rookie tailback Alfred Morris came out and rushed for 96 yards, carrying the ball 28 times and scoring two key touchdowns for Washington. Morris and Griffin combined for 138 rushing yards, and four total touchdowns.

The Redskins were able to shock the Saints, and Griffin III was really the only rookie quarterback who looked great on Sunday. Top overall pick Andrew Luck was responsible for four turnovers against the Chicago Bears, and the Colts wound up losing 41-21 despite starting the game with a pick-six and a 7-0 lead. On the other sideline there, Jay Cutler and the Bears looked scary good offensively, and the defense was making plays as usual.

Luck was able to do some great things yesterday, but the Bears got the best of him and he was clearly flustered at times.

Russell Wilson looked okay for the Seahawks, who lost a close one to the Arizona Cardinals on a fourth down play that fell just short for Seattle. The bigger story here was that Kevin Kolb came in after John Skelton suffered an injury, and he played really well. Kolb completed six of his eight passes including the game winner for the Cardinals.

Elsewhere for rookie quarterbacks, Brandon Weeden and Ryan Tannehill looked pretty bad. They made some nice plays, but they seemed to be few and far in between. Those guys clearly have the worst supporting casts among the other rookie QBs, but they still looked well-behind in their development. Brandon Weeden finished with a quarterback rating of just over five, and a large reason why was because he completed only 12 passes and had four interceptions. Weeden also had two fumbles on the day.

Tannehill fared a little bit better, but is still searching for his first touchdown pass after throwing three interceptions and fumbling once. He completed 20 passes and was able to hit some guys for big plays, but sadly the only legitimate threat offensively for the Dolphins right now is Reggie Bush, and they need someone else to emerge for Tannehill to develop properly.

Aug 25, 2012; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins running back Alfred Morris (46) runs the ball during the first half against the Indianapolis Colts at FedEX Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE

The Andrew Luck vs. Robert Griffin III battle was pretty slow-going for about the entire length of a quarter, and to be honest, they had their thunder stolen by another rookie on the field.

Rookie tailback Alfred Morris, a sixth round pick by the Redskins out of Florida Atlantic continued his impressive pre-season with a 14 carry, 107 yard performance. Morris has really opened eyes for the Redskins this offseason, and after being selected in the sixth round has worked his way into the starting lineup with injuries to Roy Helu Jr. and Evan Royster.

To be completely frank, it seems as though Morris is the best overall back the Redskins have, unless Tim Hightower is healthy. We all know how much Mike Shanahan loves to rotate running backs in and out of his flawless zone running scheme, but it may be time to stick with a guy and get out of the logjam situations. My opinion is that Morris has proven to be durable, productive, and versatile enough that he should be the starter.

As for the two rookie quarterbacks everyone is talking about, I think both guys did some things well. Robert Griffin III tried to air it out on a few different occasions, and he was off the mark via the overthrow each time. One area the Redskins really struggled last year was connecting on big plays down the field, and Griffin can certainly rectify that problem if they can get his accuracy in check.

Andrew Luck was pretty limited early on to quick, short passes, but his first and only touchdown throw was a beauty. It was a very nice route run by fellow rookie T.Y. Hilton, who looked like he was running a quick out and then turned upfield and ran as fast as he could. Luck stepped into his pass and hit Hilton right where he needed to for six. It capped off a very nice drive for the Colts, who are having some issues along their offensive line. Luck was sacked a few too many times.

Griffin III showed good ability to bounce back after a sluggish start, leading a couple of touchdown drives including one that was capped off by a touchdown pass to Santana Moss.

The quarterback who played the best on  this day was backup Rex Grossman, who completed all eight of his passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns. The ‘Skins could have used that kind of production out of him last year, but at least he’s proving he can at least still be a capable backup after Kirk Cousins dominated last week’s game against the Chicago Bears.

As far as pre-season games go, this one was pretty entertaining.

May 6, 2012; Ashburn, VA, USA; Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III (10) throws the ball during rookie minicamp at Redskins Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE

In 2011, Cam Newton had arguably the greatest rookie season for a quarterback in NFL history. In both the passing game and the running game, Newton was a factor and he did exactly what Carolina drafted him first overall to do–take a horrible situation and turn the franchise around. I’m not going to go so far as to say Carolina is going to be NFC South contenders in 2012, but they certainly should score a lot of points.

Before last season, the Panthers had one of the most anemic offenses in the NFL. Despite drafting two running backs in the first round and having a premiere wide receiver on the roster, Carolina just could not put points on the board. When Newton arrived, all that changed.

The same could be true for this year’s prizes of the 2012 NFL Draft, Andrew Luck and Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III. Though a guy like Cam Newton is truly a rare athlete with unmatched size, athleticism, and overall playmaking ability for his position, guys like Griffin and Luck each have what baseball fans would call “five tools.”

Both Griffin and Luck are inheriting some pretty bad offenses, at least dating back to last year. Specifically, I worry about the Redskins’ and Colts’ ability to run the football consistently. Neither team has a premiere running back capable of going for over 1,000 yards with ease, despite the fact that Indy has a former first round pick in Donald Brown, and Washington has up-and-coming Roy Helu Jr. If both of those guys can step up their game in 2012, then I think Luck and Griffin can have excellent rookie years.

I don’t foresee Luck or Griffin being as impactful for their team’s running games as Newton was, but if that area of the team is even improved in the least, these guys should be stars from the get-go.

What am I basing this off of? Well, I don’t know that the Redskins or Colts have a playmaker of the caliber of the Panthers’ Steve Smith, but certainly they have players who can be of similar impact. Reggie Wayne of the Colts is older and past his prime, but he can still be a major target for Andrew Luck in the passing game, as can young tight end Coby Fleener, Luck’s college teammate.

Washington has an array of targets for Griffin to sling the ball to, but Mike Shanahan’s offense is predicated on running the football. Griffin will throw to the likes of Josh Morgan, Leonard Hankerson, Pierre Garcon, and Santana Moss. I don’t think there’s any doubt about who inherited the more talented group of receivers, but I still think Luck can be just as impactful because of his supreme skills and ability to orchestrate an offense.

This may be the most intriguing couple of rookie quarterbacks the NFL has seen in quite some time.

June 12 2012; Ashburn, VA, USA; Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III (10) throws the ball during Redskins Minicamp at Redskins Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE

Last year’s Heisman Trophy winner and the highest draft pick to sign yet has finally inked his rookie deal. Robert Griffin III signed a four year deal with the Washington Redskins, roughly around 21 million dollars, 14 million of which is likely to be his signing bonus under the rookie wage scale.

Griffin announced the signing via his Twitter page: “Well people….It’s Time to go to Work!!! Off the unemployment line and oh yea HTTR!!!!”

He is expected to be a high impact player right away as a rookie, but we can’t expect him to duplicate what Cam Newton was able to do last year for the Panthers. Still, head coach Mike Shanahan has made no secrets about who will be starting for the ‘Skins in 2012.

“He’s the starter. Period,” Shanahan said.

The Redskins traded a total of three first round picks to get the rights to draft Griffin, and as of this posting, 13 first round picks remain unsigned. There are questions about guaranteed money for some rookie contracts, but for the most part, the new CBA has put parameters in place to get deals done before camp, so I would have to assume a flurry of rookie deals are forthcoming.

Congratulations to Griffin for getting his deal done before camp and leading his team.

June 12 2012; Ashburn, VA, USA; Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III (10) throws the ball during Redskins Minicamp at Redskins Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE

So much is made of Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts because of his NFL readiness, his intelligence, and his overall football ability, but you don’t hear a lot of the same about Robert Griffin III, even though he almost graded out just as high on my board coming out.

Maybe around Redskins camp, there is more of a buzz surrounding him, but I’m impressed by the fact that RG3 is making such a seamless transition to leading his new team. A team full of veteran receivers, which Griffin III says he will likely be working with in between minicamp and training camp this offseason.

“We’re all going to get together. We haven’t planned it yet, but we are going to get together and throw. It’s important for us to be successful as a team, and working together like that is what you have to do. It’s not to a massive scale or anything, but I’ve talked to a couple of the receivers to try to see if we can hook up and throw together just to stay in tune. But it’s not official yet.”

Griffin also talked about knowing when to slide and potentially being afraid of taking too many hits as a quarterback who can run.

“One thing I won’t do is play with fear. You have to play fearless. That doesn’t mean I’m going to go try and run over linebackers and safeties, but I’ll be smart. If I need to slide, I’ll slide. If I need to run out of bounds, I’ll run out of bounds. But if it’s third-and-3 and a crucial point in the game, don’t expect me to be sliding. If it’s at the end of the game, I won’t slide. Don’t expect that. But if it’s early in the game, I don’t have a problem with it. It’s not a shot at my manhood. I’ve slid before. I’ve run out of bounds before too. I’ve been laid into out of bounds before too. That’s 15 yards. Keep them coming.”

I can’t wait to see RG3 playing this season, and while there will be some bumps and bruises along the way, the Redskins and most fans will have high hopes for this year and rightfully so.

Dec 3, 2011; Waco, TX, USA; Baylor Bears quarterback Robert Griffin III (10) rolls out against the Texas Longhorns during the game at Floyd Casey Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

It’s been a long time coming, but the Redskins have finally solved their issues at quarterback for the future. Robert Griffin III is a tantalizing prospect who has fought through lingering injury issues bu has a world of talent on the field. Griffin III is extremely mobile and has terrific down field accuracy. The bigger thing though is finally the Redskins can stop looking for a quarterback for the future, hopefully it’ll turn out better than when they selected Jason Campbell in the first round.

The Redskins gave up a lot to get him-swapping first round picks this year, getting a 1st round pick in 2013 and 2014 and a second round pick in 2013, but I think most Redskins fans would agree it was worth the price.

Grade: B+

I have some reservations about RGIII, especially a little bit of an injury history and a question about how healthy he can stay and the Redskins gave up an awful lot get him, but this is still a really good pick.

Follow us on twitter @NFLmocks for instant reactions of all picks throughout the weekend.

The reason I personally find this interesting is because neither chose to use Andrew Luck. Obviously it doesn’t speak poorly of Luck that he’s not on the cover, but I think this is just the beginning of a media frenzy that will follow RG3 as he begins his career with the Washington Redskins.

I was listening to ESPN radio earlier, and whatever show it was, they were debating who had more pressure on them to perform and live up to expectations–RG3 or Andrew Luck. Let me ask you this question: Who do you expect more out of, the Colts or Redskins?

In my opinion, there is a wrong answer to that question. I don’t think there’s any way Andrew Luck has more pressure on him to perform at a high level, despite the fact that he is replacing arguably the best quarterback of all time. The Washington Redskins have a much more high profile head coach, and they are recognized as a much more prominent team in terms of the history of the NFL. Their location also has a lot to do with it, and while it was probably unintentional, I think the magazine covers indicate to me that the pressure placed on RG3 is going to be hot and heavy from the moment he enters the league.

Forget the pressures of simply being a starting quarterback in the NFL, how about all the picks the ‘Skins gave up to get him? The heat is on for RG3, and based on what I’ve seen from him thus far, I think he’s primed to handle it and be a star in the NFL.

I decided with Andrew Luck to go with his old look, the Amish type of look that he was rocking a few months ago. For RG3, he already has a lot of prominent cartoon features, but actually both guys have distinct enough physical features that you can tell who they are with pretty simple cartoons. Anyway, I’ll stick to my day job, but here’s my cartooning for those of you who think that sort of stuff is funny…