The Washington Football Team‘s offseason has been dominated by the upcoming February rebrand and the pending search for a new quarterback.
It’s easy to see why that’s the case, but don’t let those headline-grabbers distract you from the fact that Washington has a lot more on their plate.
Between extending Terry McLaurin, sorting out the futures of Montez Sweat and Daron Payne and a number of free agents — JD McKissic, Bobby McCain, and Tim Settle, to name a few — there’s a lot of work to be done.
Perhaps the biggest question mark that nobody is talking about is how Washington plans on replacing Brandon Scherff. Assuming the standout guard prices himself out of the team’s budget, he’ll likely have a new home come mid-March.
While Washington has in-house replacement candidates like Wes Schweitzer and Saahdiq Charles, they might want Schweitzer to continue being a backup and Charles to get more snaps before he’s thrust into the starting lineup.
With that in mind, let’s put our general manager hats on and browse the free agent market for some Scherff replacements.
4 free agent replacements for Brandon Scherff
4. Mark Glowinski
The Indianapolis Colts’ offensive line has hands down been one of the best in the league over the last three seasons.
With a starting core of Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly Braden Smith and Anthony Castanzo (before he retired), each of whom are Pro Bowl talents, right guard Mark Glowinski, through no fault of his own, has been the odd man out.
With offseason pickup Chris Reed impressing at multiple positions, the Colts are likely to re-sign him and let Glowinski test the open market. Should he get that far, Washington should undoubtedly give him a call.
A former fourth-round pick of Seattle in 2015, Glowinski inked a three-year, $16 million contract with Indianapolis during the 2018 offseason. When taking the last three seasons into account — he wasn’t a full-time starter until 2019 — he’s started 43 of a possible 46 games while playing 93.6% of the snaps.
Glowinski might never make a Pro Bowl in his career, but he’s the definition of dependable at the right guard position. In fact, over the last two seasons (1,993 snaps), the WVU product allowed a combined four sacks and five penalties.
We’ll take that kind of consistency in Landover any day of the week.
3. James Daniels
It was so refreshing to see the Bears identify one position for James Daniels this past season. While the 2018 second-round pick flashed potential across the OL in his first two years, he delivered the goods at RG in 2021.
If you can believe it, Daniels just wrapped up his fourth season in the league and won’t turn 25 years old until September. In his first year as a full-time starter at right guard, Daniels graded out well by Pro Football Focus, earning a 71.5 player grade, 68.3 pass-blocking grade and a 72.4 run-blocking grade.
Those numbers won’t wow anybody, but it’s important to remember this would be an upside signing for Washington. At 24 years old and 54 games (48) starts under his belt, Daniels still has plenty of room for development.
For example, he struggles at times against power rushers and has largely played in a zone-oriented scheme dating back to his days at Iowa. Of course, that shouldn’t dissuade Washington from signing him. Almost every FA has a red flag, and this one is more dark yellow/orange than red.
At the end of the day, Daniels has experience at both guard positions and can even play center when called upon. After all the injuries Washington’s line dealt with in 2021, that versatility could end up being invaluable.
If the WFT can get him at $9-10 million annually, they should do it.
2. Austin Corbett
Austin Corbett was actually drafted No. 33 overall by the Browns back in 2018. However, he struggled to see the field early on in his career, playing just 15 snaps over his 21 games before he was traded to the Rams in 2019.
Corbett started seven games for Los Angeles after the trade and hasn’t looked back since. Despite switching from center to right guard, he posted a career-high 73.4 player grade and 76.4 run-blocking grade from PFF.
The Nevada product followed that up with an equally impressive 2021, starting all 17 contests while logging a 99% snap share. The increased workload didn’t impact his effectiveness, either as he allowed just three sacks, six quarterback hits and 34 pressures, to go with just two penalties.
So, what kind of contract could Corbett cash on the open market? Pro Football Focus projects something in the range of $37 million over four years ($9.25 million annually) and $20 million guaranteed. That might seem like a lot, but less than $10 million is hardly a steep price to pay to replace a Pro Bowler.
Much like the next player on this list, the former second-rounder can still be an effective starter outside of an exotic offense.
1. Laken Tomlinson
Laken Tomlinson has quietly become one of the best guards in the NFL under Kyle Shanahan, but don’t go think he’s a system-dependent player. Sure, Shanahan’s scheme will make any offensive lineman look good, but Tomlinson was a solid player before he arrived in San Francisco back in 2017.
Across 1,094 snaps with the 49ers, the seven-year pro allowed just two sacks and 24 total pressures while committing just five penalties, per Pro Football Focus. He also surrendered a pressure on just 3.8% of his pass-rushing snaps, which was one of the best marks among guards who played at least 200 snaps.
Bottom line? Tomlinson has developed into a high-end starting guard and there are no signs he’s going to lose that mantle. He’s been injury-free in his career outside of a torn MCL suffered in 2017. He’s only missed one game in his career and has played at least 1,000 snaps every year dating back to 2017.
If Washington would rather sign an established veteran over drafting a prospect/giving Wes Schweitzer or Saahdiq Charles a chance to prove themselves, Tomlinson should be the pick.
Other than Scherff, he’s the top guard hitting free agency and he’ll be extremely affordable, according to PFF’s contract projection of three years for $27 million ($9M per year, $16.5 million total guaranteed).
Compare that with the notion that Scherff is expected to demand $20 million annually, and you’ll warm up to the idea of adding Tomlinson pretty quickly.