Dumping RG3 a Step in Right Direction for 'Dysfunctional' Washington Redskins

Dumping Robert Griffin III is a step in the right direction for the Washington Redskins. Actually, it's not just a step, it's a giant stride away from the dysfunction that's choked the organization the last three years and beyond.

In fact, starting Kirk Cousins over RG3 for the 2015 season is the most the functional thing the Redskins have done in a long time.

Head coach Jay Gruden made the call that 2012's second overall pick is no longer the starter, but the man taken in the fourth round that year is, per ESPN.com. Everything about this call is right.

It starts with Gruden's reasoning:

"

Really, this is about Kirk doing an excellent job and winning the job. Robert is disappointed, as I'm sure Colt (McCoy) is disappointed.

I think all three quarterbacks should be commended for their efforts, their willingness to get better. But when it's all said and done ... we feel like at this time, Kirk Cousins gives us the best chance to win.

"

So this is the Redskins making a decision for football reasons. It's no longer about favoritism for RG3, or letting pride force them into sticking with a failed draft project simply because they gave up so much to get him.

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This is purely a football decision. Some will doubt that. Everything runs deeper with Griffin they'll say. Or it's simply a case of coach and quarterback not getting along.

To boil this call down to nothing more than Gruden not liking Griffin is missing the point. It's ignoring every that happened on the football field last season and the year before.

The simple fact is with RG3 under center, the Redskins lose. It's taken the franchise a while to reach that conclusion, maybe too long.

But now they know, the Redskins are making a decision. There's nothing whatsoever dysfunctional or messy about that.

This is a team admitting it's made a mistake, identifying the problem, solving it and getting ready to move on. That's how things are supposed to work.

In fact, the mechanics behind this call show Washington operating smoothly, running the way stable pro franchises do. NFL Media reporter Albert Breer made that clear:

In a nutshell, this is what the decision to bench No. 10 really represents for Washington. Let's face it, there's no guarantee Cousins will be a success. His history doesn't indicate it, even if he does have a much better grasp of the demands of playing quarterback than Griffin ever has.

But the real story here is how the Redskins became a franchise again. This is no laughingstock. Instead, it's an organization where the coach is empowered to choose his quarterback, while the owner and the front office support his decision rather than overrule it.

Jerry Brewer of the Washington Post summed it up well:

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It took until the start of his second season in Washington, but barring the kind of wacky reversal this NFL franchise is fully capable of, Gruden is in complete command. He has the authority that a coach in this league should possess. Owner Daniel Snyder’s acceptance of the decision to bench Robert Griffin III in favor of Cousins proves there are currently no roadblocks to Gruden doing things his way.

"

Whether Gruden has merely been given enough rope to hang himself remains to be seen. But this isn't about Gruden. It's not even about general manager Scot McCloughan or owner Dan Snyder.

The names of the men in those offices are irrelevant in this case. This is about those offices functioning the way they're supposed to.

Of course, plenty will still naturally take the opportunity afforded by RG3's bizarre fall from grace to present Washington as the NFL's modern calamity gallery. But really, the only thing bizarre here is that a Redskins head coach, GM and owner actually appear to be on the same page.

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That's what sitting Griffin down has done. Taking it one step further would just be a continuation on the journey back to normality.

Gruden may have declared RG3 still has a future in D.C., according to ESPN.com's John Keim, but let's face it, he's done. It's the only sensible outcome to give all parties the fresh start they so desperately need.

That might mean cutting Griffin altogether (somebody has to say it).

Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman believes that's the best way to expedite a necessary divorce with a quarterback the team is struggling to trade: "The team sources I've spoken to believe Washington will eventually cut Griffin. One team executive who has spoken to Washington about a Griffin trade said that the most teams have offered for the quarterback 'is a fifth- or sixth-round pick.'"

It's a view shared by ESPN analyst and former league executive Joe Banner:

This narrative may be a painful one for some, but it makes sense. You should find it difficult to believe Gruden's claim that Griffin has any sort of future with the Burgundy and Gold. Particularly when Colt McCoy is likely to start the whole of the team's final preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, per Mike Jones of the Washington Post.

Sounds like a veteran getting a full audition to win the backup job.

Keeping Griffin around in this context wouldn't be too healthy. Leaving him lingering on the bench would be a constant reminder of this whole sorry chapter.

It would also keep the news cycle around No. 10 turning. Every week would become a Griffin watch, how he's responding to life on the bench, does he he look happy? Is he talking to Gruden?

I'm tired just thinking about it.

Writing for Forbes.com, Vincent Frank believes the team owes it to Griffin: "Now that Gruden has named Cousins the starting quarterback for the season, it’s time that the team do right by RG3 and release him so that he can catch on with another team."

It's a commendable sentiment, but one that again rather misses the point.

This franchise is no longer making decisions based on what's best for one person. Now the team is coming first.

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That's why there's no mess in Washington, not now anyway. Not that you'd know it from a lot of the commentary around this decision.

Rant Sports' Jason Fletcher dubbed the Redskins the "laughingstock of the NFL." Meanwhile, ex-Dallas Cowboys quarterback and current Fox broadcaster Troy Aikman suggested the franchise is more dysfunctional than the Kardashians during a live preseason broadcast (h/t Des Bieler of the Washington Post).

It's ironic that one of the few functional and sensible moves Washington has made in recent years earns the organization such negative labels.

Ditching Griffin can't possibly make this franchise a laughingstock. How exactly does moving on from a failed quarterback make you a laughingstock?

What would be truly dysfunctional is sticking with No. 10 despite glaring evidence that he's not the man. It would be laughable to continue giving RG3 everything he needs, from coaches, the right system and awesome weapons, only to watch him carry on wasting them.

Playing that game and sticking a quarterback on coaches who don't believe in him is what's kept the Redskins dysfunctional the last two and a bit years.

But now that's changing. By finally facing facts with Griffin, Washington's coaches and front office are thinking about more than just one position. They're thinking about the other 52 players on the final roster.

That includes the offensive line Griffin appears to have fallen out with, according to B/R NFL Insider Jason Cole:

Keeping a QB in the fold whose linemen don't want to block for him. Now that would be dysfunctional.

So the Redskins got it spectacularly wrong with a player who cost three first-round picks and a second-rounder. Yes, they were as wrong as you could be. But the answer isn't sticking with the doomed plan in some sort of Herculean show of pathological defiance.

Here's the part that really grinds the gears. Point please, to the NFL franchise that doesn't have a high-profile draft mistake in its past. Take your time, I'll wait.

The dirty, dirty secret is every team at one time or another has fallen in love with the wrong college prospect. It's what they do once they know it's a mistake that counts.

The Redskins have taken their time acknowledging their RG3-shaped error. But finally admitting it and being prepared to move on shouldn't be held up as a symbol of everything wrong in Washington.

Truthfully, the organization should be commended for accepting its shortcomings and doing something about it.

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Granted, there's more than an element here of being able to "see clearly now that the rain has gone." Pushing Griffin aside for Cousins guarantees nothing. In fact, it will look like a crater-sized disaster if Cousins tanks once the games count.

Maybe the Redskins will still be none the wiser about their future at quarterback after the 2015 season. Maybe McCloughan, Snyder and likely a new head coach will be left frantically scouring the 2016 draft pool for the next rocket-armed, supposed savior.

But just moving on from Griffin at all is a giant step in the right direction toward respectability for Washington.