PFF makes surprising pick for Commanders’ best offseason move

The Washington Commanders had a busy offseason as a franchise. From debuting the new Commanders moniker and uniforms, weathering more Dan Snyder controversy and acquiring Carson Wentz in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts, Washington fans could hardly catch their breath the last few months.

The clearcut biggest move, though, came in the form of Terry McLaurin’s contract extension. For many fans, the success of the offseason hinged on whether McLaurin got extended or entered 2022 in the final year of his rookie deal, so the team deserves credit for locking up the star receiver through the 2025 season.

And the fact the agreement got done with time to spare before training camp is another reason to applaud the front office.

While the team’s de facto best move of the offseason, extending a player doesn’t technically qualify for that title in the eyes of NFL writers. Signing free agents, trading for a player or getting great value in the draft are usually the winners of these debates. So what move takes the cake for the Commanders?

According to Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger, letting longtime offensive guard Brandon Scherff walk and replacing him with Trai Turner is the winner.

The Commanders were smart not to re-sign star OL Brandon Scherff.

Here’s what Spielberger said of the decision.

"Washington’s decision to franchise tag Scherff a second time in 2021 to the tune of $18.036 million was an extremely puzzling move, but they were smart to finally cut their losses this offseason and let him walk to Jacksonville where he signed a three-year, $49.5 million deal that reset the guard market at $16.5 million per year as he enters his age-31 season."

Talk about hitting the nail on the head. While Scherff is an upper-echelon talent, guard isn’t considered a premium position. Left tackle, right tackle and even the center position are all regarded as more important for obvious reasons.

It just wouldn’t have made sense for Washington to pay Scherff top-dollar. For context, his $16.5 million salary is tops amongst guards and his $30 million in fully guaranteed money ranks second only to Joe Thuney’s $31.89 million.

At the time, McLaurin’s contract situation wasn’t resolved and extending Scherff would’ve made signing McLaurin more complicated. Not to mention, several of Washington’s homegrown talents –including Chase Young, Montez Sweat, Cole Holcomb and Kam Curl — could all look for new deals next offseason.

As Spielberger notes, Scherff hasn’t played 80% of the snaps for four consecutive seasons. During that span, he’s missed 22 games and he hasn’t played a full season since 2016. Having him reset the market to play anywhere between 600-800 snaps per year would’ve been a risky investment to say the least.

That’s not to say Scherff and Turner are on a level playing field in terms of talent, but Turner made five straight Pro Bowls once upon a time under Ron Rivera. Though he struggled with healthy and consistency in 2020 with the Chargers, Turner bounced back with the Steelers in 2021, posting a respectable 69.4 player grade from PFF to go with 20 pressures and seven sacks over 1,082 snaps.

Still just 29 years old, plenty of teams would love to have Turner slotted as their starting right guard. The fact he’ll cost the Commanders just $3 million this season is an excellent trade-off relative to Scherff’s earnings and injury history.