No team has used a franchise tag on a guard since 2011. The 2020 Redskins appear ready to take this rarely traversed route. They intend to tag Brandon Scherff, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com tweets.
A weekend report pointed to the Redskins being ready to deploy their tag for this purpose, with the Ron Rivera regime ready to do whatever it takes to retain the Pro Bowl blocker. The Redskins drafted Scherff in the 2015 first round and watched the former Iowa tackle make three Pro Bowls as a guard.
Washington has $61MM-plus in cap space, so a tag would not be burdensome. However, all offensive linemen are grouped together under the tag format. Scherff would receive an approximate $15MM salary under the tag. Logan Mankins was the last guard tagged, and the Patriots extended him later that summer.
Faced with the prospect of losing both Scherff and Trent Williams, the Redskins have put the prospect of keeping both into play. While Williams wants a raise or a trade, Rivera has reopened communication lines damaged by since-fired team president Bruce Allen. The Redskins resumed contract talks with Scherff, one of Allen’s best draft picks, after months without dialogue.
The No. 5 overall pick five years ago, Scherff has become one of the NFL’s top guards. He graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 10 guard in 2019, before going down with a season-ending injury in December. Scherff has dealt with injury issues recently, missing 13 games between the 2018-19 seasons. But he made the 2016, ’17 and ’19 Pro Bowl rosters, and with Joe Thuney being linked to a guard-record deal, Washington’s 28-year-old standout blocker would be in line for a monster deal if allowed to hit the open market.
Franchise tag is not a bad idea here as Scherff’s health has been dodgy. If it gets worse in 2020, let him go. If he seems to have sorted his ailments, make him a good offer.
A non-exclusive tag would make more sense though than a franchise tag. The Redskins would be better off with two first round draft picks than Scherff.
They would have two first round picks had they traded Williams when they had the chance.
The Redskins should be trading everybody they can for future draft picks, as last year’s record was no fluke. They need to be shooting for success 3-4 years from now, thus players who will be over the hill by then are a complete waste of money.
A veteran like Adrian Peterson certainly isn’t a waste of money but I agree they need to focus on the rebuild that begins as soon as they can get free of Alex Smith’s contract.