The clock is ticking for Brandon Scherff and the Washington Football Team to hammer out a long-term deal. The two sides have until July 15 before negotiations have to be tabled until the end of the 2021 season. Yet, the All-Pro right guard remains hopeful a done can be done.
Washington placed a franchise tag Scherff for a second straight year. He is owed a guaranteed $18.036 million in 2021. The pressure is on both sides to get a deal done, but it’s very unlikely Washington would tag Scherff for a third straight year.
That’s because Scherff would be owed a 144% increase from his 2021 salary with a third straight franchise tag. Not many NFL teams will sign up for paying an offensive guard close to $26 million for a season, no matter how great he is.
Thus a long-term deal is the best change of Scherff playing in Washington beyond 2021. It would be in Washington’s best interest to get the deal done before Scherff hits free agency next March.
An April report suggested Brandon Scherff turned down a long-term deal that would have made him the highest-paid guard in the league. The longer there is no deal, the more this is shaping to be another Kirk Cousins situation for Washington.
Washington tagged the quarterback in back-to-back seasons in 2016 and 2017 before letting him walk in free agency to the Minnesota Vikings in 2018. Will Scherff have the same fate?
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