Redskins will pick up fifth-year option for Robert Griffin III

The Washington Redskins will exercise the fifth-year option on Robert Griffin III, meaning the quarterback is now under contract through the 2016 season, the team announced Monday.

General Manager Scot McCloughan said at a news conference that the Redskins will submit the proper paperwork to the NFL before the May 3 deadline. Some had speculated that the team would wait until after this week’s draft before committing to Griffin beyond the upcoming season.

Back in February, Coach Jay Gruden stated that Griffin would be the team’s starter going into the 2015 season despite the on-field struggles the quarterback has faced the last two seasons, following a stellar rookie year in 2012.

Still, many were interested to see what the Redskins would do on Thursday if Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota somehow was still available when the Redskins went on the clock at No. 5 overall.

Monday’s announcement ought to end all such speculation.

Or will it? McCloughan said the decision on Griffin “does not affect our draft process at all.”

“We’re going to approach free agency and the draft every year the same way: Getting good football players,” McCloughan said. “You always have injuries and trades and opportunities like that. But if you can just start stockpiling good players, your organization is going in a good direction.”

McCloughan added that if the best player available to the Redskins just happens to be a quarterback, then they will draft a quarterback.

Although if the Redskins really are interested in Mariota, moving up in the draft might be the best idea. Perhaps they intend to package Griffin and some draft picks to offer Tennessee for the No. 2 overall pick.

Or, if that doesn’t work, maybe they will trade Griffin to Philadelphia for Tim Tebow, whom they will package with Kirk Cousins as trade bait.

Or maybe they plan to keep RG3 and trade every other player on the team for Mariota.

Anything is possible, I suppose.

Twitter: @chewkiii