NFL: Washington Redskins at New Orleans Saints

Robert Griffin III is off to the Browns. (Derick E. Hingle | US Presswire)

Robert Griffin III is packing his stuff and heading for Cleveland, now that the Browns have signed the free agent quarterback.

He had also visited with the Jets, though they never seemed seriously interested in him. Once Griffin visited the Browns, it was clear they wanted him more. So Thursday's news of Griffin to Cleveland came as no surprise.

And even though the Jets' quarterback situation remains uncertain -- with Ryan Fitzpatrick still a free agent -- the Jets made the right move by not signing Griffin.

Sure, Griffin might go on to excel in 2016, while Fitzpatrick could return to the Jets and flop. And then, of course, hindsight would say otherwise about the Jets passing on Griffin.

But as it stands right now, the Jets were wise to let him sign with Cleveland, for several reasons.

First, the price.

The Jets are reportedly offering Fitzpatrick about $7 million per year. That is a low offer, sure. But the perception of low or high doesn't really matter, because nobody else is currently offering Fitzpatrick the money he wants. So it makes no sense for the Jets to boost their offer. They don't have to.

Griffin, meanwhile, reportedly got a two-year contract from Cleveland with a base value of $15 million, including $6.75 million guaranteed. Why in the world would the Jets pay Griffin -- who hasn't done squat in recent years -- that kind of money when they're offering Fitzpatrick similar coin?

Yes, we know Griffin, 26, has an age advantage over Fitzpatrick, 33, even though Fitzpatrick is coming off a career year.

But remember, nobody knows if Griffin can be a consistently successful NFL starter. He's not a sure thing. Far from it. Which is why the Browns still likely will draft a quarterback at No. 2 and have him compete against Griffin.

In his rookie year, 2012, Griffin threw 20 touchdowns and five interceptions, while also running for seven touchdowns. He didn't play at all last year, as Washington replaced him with Kirk Cousins. In between, from 2013-14, Griffin struggled with injuries and threw 20 touchdowns and 18 picks, plus one rushing score.

He looked like a quarterback who couldn't counter the adjustments that NFL defenses had made to him.

The Jets, despite their hole at quarterback, didn't need to make the knee-jerk decision of giving an injury-prone retread like Griffin a $15 million contract.

The bottom line remains: Fitzpatrick's non-Jets options for 2016 are extremely limited, as they've been for a couple weeks now. Yes, there is some risk that the Jets could lose Fitzpatrick to, say, the Broncos. But not at the price Fitzpatrick wants. The Jets can continue to wait it out with Fitzpatrick.

Regardless of whether the Broncos land Colin Kaepernick in a trade, it still seems likely -- as it always has -- that Fitzpatrick will return to the Jets in 2016.

In the meantime, the Jets are wise to formulate fallback plans -- and that's what they're doing. (Josh McCown, anyone?)

But they don't need to rashly act on those plans, just to get a quarterback into their building. Yes, it's late in free agency, but nobody is playing a game Sunday.

Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DarrylSlater. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.