Robert Griffin III has worn No. 10 during his time at Baylor and also during his four years with Washington. In Cleveland, however, No. 10 already had been assigned to receiver Darius Jennings.

 

Via Dan Labbe of Cleveland.com, the number has been reassigned to Griffin.

 

In a social media post, Griffin thanked Jennings for “giving me” No. 10. Rarely, however, do those exchanges occur without compensation or a charitable contribution or some other consideration.

 

As to Jennings, it’s possible that he’s merely sucking up to a guy who may be throwing footballs in the wideout’s direction. It’s also possible that the two guys have decided not to broadcast the circumstances surrounding the transaction.

 

Jennings appeared in four games last season with one start. And that’s four more games than the number of games Griffin appeared in during his final season in Washington.

 

Eleven years ago, former Washington running back Clinton Portis agreed to pay former Washington safety Ifeanyi Ohalete $40,000 in exchange for No. 26. Portis paid the first half but then stiff Ohalete on the second installment after Ohalete had been cut. Ohalete sued, and Portis eventually agreed to settle for $18,000.

 

Robert Griffin secures No. 1 in Cleveland from Darius Jennings | ProFootballTalk

Should players be allowed to do this? Or at least allowed to do it without the terms being officially handled and paid through the team/NFL?

 

It seems to me this is ripe for a conflict of interest. In other words, Jennings does RG3 a solid, then RG3 lobbies for more playing time for Jennings and forces the ball to him more.

 

After all, who knows what deal was made between the players if it was secret and not with the authority of the team/NFL?

I would think any team would want to have a rule against this. The potential for tearing down team cohesion is too great. In the Portis scenario, if the guy had stayed on the team and Portis still failed to pay the second installment could have had teammates taking sides.

 

Then the reasons theguru stated about promising to throw the ball his direction, etc. Too much opportunity for mischief.

 

Also, the number actually belongs to the team, not the player.

Anyone else on this issue?

Wonder how often the seller claims his profit come April 15th.