Ereck Flowers reportedly could command $10 million per year in free agency

Ereck Flowers is going to make big money after a great season at left guard for the Washington Redskins.

In his first season with the Washington Redskins, Ereck Flowers found a lot of success. The former top-10 pick moved to the left guard position after spending the first few years of his career at the left tackle position.

Evidently, the league took notice of Flowers’ performance. And now, he’s reportedly set to get a big payday.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo, Flowers could command up to $10 million annually thanks to his “strong market.”

This is somewhat of a surprise. It’s not that Flowers didn’t play well last season. He was a strong blocker for the Redskins and his athletic ability was a huge boost inside, and his move helped mask some of the footwork issues that caused him to fail at tackle. But after just one season at a new position, giving Flowers $10 million a year seems like a lot.

I had anticipated that Flowers may fall somewhere in the $6-$8 million per season range. Positives for him include his solid 2019 performance and his potential to grow, considering that he’ll only turn 26 in April. But negatives include that he still has just one year of experience at guard, so paying big bucks for him could be a risk.

We’ll soon see if that’s actually what Flowers ends up making on the open market. But this seems like a hefty price to pay for Flowers’ services. Could it pay off? Absolutely.

But would the Redskins be better off giving a guy like Wes Martin, a 2019 fourth-round pick who is set to earn less than $1 million in 2020? You could surely make a case for that.

Legal tampering opens in less than one hour, so we’ll know more about the level of interest of Flowers at that point. But his market will surely be something to watch in the coming days.