This year’s NFL free agency period will not officially open until March 16 at 4 p.m., but the first major date on the league’s 2022 calendar has already arrived. Starting Tuesday, teams can use the franchise tag to keep pending free agents from entering the open market.
Teams that use the franchise tag are typically trying to buy themselves more time to negotiate a new contract or keep an elite player around for one more year.
In the 30 years of the franchise tag's existence, the Washington Commanders have used it 12 times, including the past two seasons on offensive lineman Brandon Scherff.
Scherff is the only free agent apart from quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick that made more than $2.5 million last season, so he is the only logical candidate for the tag once again.
Washington and Scherff's camp have been in negotiations for a long time, and this is the third offseason where Scherff will seek a long term deal.
According to Sporting News, a player tagged for a third straight season will have to be paid 144% of his previous salary. This means that Scherff would be paid nearly $26 million should the tag be used on him, which would make him the highest-paid offensive lineman in all of football.
Scherff is talented, but it is hard to justify giving him that contract, especially for only one season.
Scherff's camp is clearly frustrated with the Commanders front office, and it's likely he will command another offensive line in 2022.
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