Redskins, Brandon Scherff unlikely to reach long-term deal by July 15 deadline

Brandon Scherff is set to play on the franchise tag in 2020 and it doesn’t look like a long-term deal with the Redskins will come before the season starts.

It looks like Brandon Scherff will play with free agency staring him down for the second straight season.

In 2019, Scherff saw the field for the Redskins in the last year of his five-year rookie contract. In 2020, he will play on the franchise tag and it doesn’t look like the team will be signing him to a long-term extension before the season.

According to ESPN’s John Keim, “there isn’t much optimism” about a deal getting done before the July 15 deadline to sign franchise-tagged players to an extension.

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"There isn’t much optimism that a long-term deal will be struck with right guard Brandon Scherff before the July 15 deadline to sign players on the franchise tag, a source said. Barring any changes over the next week, Scherff would play on the tag for $15.03 million. The Redskins have expressed a desire to keep him long term as part of their core while strengthening the rest of their offensive line."

That’s not all too surprising. After all, the Redskins have had about four months since tagging Scherff to work out a deal with him. And they had last season to do that as well. But at this point, they seem willing to let him play another year before trying to keep him during the 2021 offseason.

As Keim mentioned, the Redskins are hopeful that they can keep Scherff, and it’s easy to understand why. When Scherff has been healthy, he has been among the best guards in the league. Granted, he has missed 15 games combined in the past three seasons and hasn’t always been 100 percent when on the field, but the 28-year-old still has a lot left in the tank and if he can stay healthy, he should be one of the league’s top-10 guards.

It’s also worth noting that the Redskins don’t figure to have a lot of continuity on the offensive line going from 2020 to 2021. Chase Roullier is set to be a free agent. Morgan Moses could be cut if he struggles in 2020, as he has averaged 15 penalties per season the last two years. And on the left side of the line, the team doesn’t have any proven starters, though Saahdiq Charles could be a future starter at tackle or guard.

But if Roullier, Moses, and Scherff were all gone, the Redskins may have to entirely rebuild their offensive line. That would be far from ideal with a young quarterback like Dwayne Haskins under center.

It will be interesting to see if the Redskins are able to keep Scherff beyond this year. He is earning $15 million on the franchise tag this season which makes him the league’s highest-paid guard in terms of average annual value. He’d likely command somewhere in the $14-$15 million range annually if he can stay healthy. That’s a hefty investment for a guard, but it may be worth it for the Redskins.

If this is Scherff’s last year in Washington, the team will have to work to find a potential future replacement for him. Internal candidates include Wes Martin, Keith Ismael, and Ross Pierschbacher, but if Scherff leaves in 2021, the team could target some other free agents or spend a mid-round pick on a guard in the 2021 NFL Draft.