Brandon Scherff Contract Concerns

Posted on by

April 8, 2021

by David Earl

Status As Of Now

There have been no contract talks between Brandon Scherff and Washington since Scherff signed his franchise tag tender last month. According to Ron Rivera, “That situation hasn’t changed. We haven’t talked since he signed.”

While reports have surfaced that Scherff has turned down several contracts which would make him the NFL’s highest paid guard, it’s important to remember that it’s early and we have yet to see the structure of those proposed deals. The annual average salary may very well exceed the league’s top paid guards but, not knowing the guaranteed money, the years attached among other details, it’s just premature to assume the worst at this time. As Steve Thomas of The Hog Sty has explained, “This is much ado about nothing. We don’t know what was really offered, how many offers were made, or what Scherff’s response actually was.” Check out this week’s Hog Sty Podcast episode, Nameless team, sponsor-less facilities, for more on the Scherff contract talks plus much more.

Reactions To Current Updates

As the new league year approached, the top discussion besides quarterback was Brandon Scherff and a possible long-term deal. At that time many were split on making Scherff the highest-paid guard, as he’s been a dominant interior lineman when healthy but his history of injury a concern. As the tag designation deadline approach there were a group of fans who saw this as a path to Scherff walking after the 2021 season being Kirk Cousins all over again. Well, here we are today and recent news, on the surface, does not appear promising but is that truly a cause for concern, or is it even indicative of an impending disaster? The Hog Sty ran a poll to try a gauge where the fans stand and whether they are not concerned or if it’s time to move on from Brandon Scherff.

Whether the Kirk Cousins and Bruce Allen debacle are feeding this reaction or not, the fact that the majority are in favor of trading him may just be a bit of an early overreaction. Yes, the Cousins situation is fresh and somewhat sets precedence here but the dynamic of these situations couldn’t be any further apart. As Steve Thomas explained so well, it’s early in the discussions and these longer-term deals don’t typically happen until closer to the July deadline. With that said, the perspectives shared in this poll were varied.

These few comments above share some very reasonable views against the idea of trading Brandon Scherff. Not only is he a First Team All Pro, which this organization hasn’t produced in many years, the lack of depth behind Scherff and the fact that the contract details are not understood reduce some level of concern right now. Then, the “Trade Him” crowd mentioned the prospect of Saahdiq Charles, the cost savings of an older offensive lineman, and simply moving on from a guy who just may not want to be here.

Brandon Scherff Not Kirk Cousins

The situation and dynamic around Kirk Cousins were fueled by many combustible components, most notably an arrogant football executive who overstayed his welcome in Bruce Allen. While the culture of this team was clearly toxic and dysfunctional (seriously, who really wanted to play for Bruce Allen) during his tenure, Kirk also had what essentially seemed like a business model being executed for his time here in Washington. There was some sentiment that he was not necessarily just trying to find his way out but maximizing his monetary value which questioned his priorities too. The Kirk and Bruce dynamic was just a scenario clearly headed for an ugly divorce.

As far as Brandon Scherff goes, there has never been a question of his desire to play here and his drive to be the best on the field. While every player wants to maximize their value in a career where the next play could be your last, Scherff never gave me the impression he’s purely driven by money. Before you come with such a blanket statement as, “he’s turning down offers of being the highest paid guard,” understand we don’t have all the variables in this equation like the guaranteed money and total years. So I agree it’s just too early to be concerned as discussions today from both sides are laying a foundation (or starting point) in these negotiations going forward. Washington has time to work out a deal and you have to trust Ron Rivera to make the right decision for this team going forward even if that ends up playing out the year under the tag. Ron and his front office have a plan in place and last year showed not one player is going to uproot and drastically alter the plan Ron Rivera has to restructure this organization. Maybe two years from now we look back at this as a critical mistake but with the ability to find good replacement guards (see Ereck Flowers and Wes Schweitzer) at reasonable salaries I tend to believe Washington will be just fine.