2012 NFL Draft: Redskins Must Trade Up for Rams' No. 2 Pick

The Redskins have to come out of April's NFL Draft with a quarterback. The only way for them to guarantee that will happen is with a trade, which is an absolute must.

Adam Schefter of ESPN is reporting that interest is growing for the No. 2 pick in the draft, currently held by the St. Louis Rams. 

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A handful of teams are expected to be in the market to draft a quarterback—the Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins, Miami Dolphins and Seattle Seahawks—and any trade talks with the Rams are likely to accelerate once the free-agent quarterback market plays out and teams still have a need at the position.

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While it should be obvious, Schefter also talked about why they were interested in that pick.

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The target at the No. 2 spot is likely Heisman Trophy-winning Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III.

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The Redskins are the logical team to do this from a few perspectives. For one, none of those other teams should take Griffin unless he falls to them. Trading up means that they will have to give up too much, which shouldn't be done. 

The Browns have more pressing needs, the Dolphins are too far back, the Seahawks are also too far back and too close to contention to trade up for a rookie quarterback. They need a new quarterback, but would be better off looking for a more NFL-ready player.

The Redskins haven't had a franchise quarterback in a long time. Even when they won Super Bowls XVII, XXII, and XXVI, they did so with three different quarterbacks. The time since then has been no kinder, as quarterbacks have come and gone, only without the success. 

RG3 is a tremendous athlete and the Redskins can't wait another year to bring in the franchise guy. If other teams are showing interest, Washington has to give the best offer.

Failure to do so will keep this once proud franchise stagnant, leaving them hanging around mediocrity. If the Redskins have to trade for Griffin, then they need to do that. Letting him go to a higher bidder would be squandering another opportunity to help rebuild the franchise. 

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