Official: Brandon Scherff signed his franchise tag tender with the Redskins

Officially Official:

Washington Redskins Pro Bowl guard Brandon Scherff is signing his franchise tag per Adam Schefter. Scherff and the Redskins have been trying to work out a long-term deal for a while now, but reports said they weren’t close on a deal. Schefter reports the franchise tag is $15-plus million for this year, but earlier reports have the franchise tag value for OL at $14.781 million for this season.

Now that Brandon Scherff has signed his tag, the team has a few options going forward. Head Coach Ron Rivera has indicated that he wants to keep Scherff here long-term, and Scherff has said he wants to be a Redskin for life. That’s all good if they can work out a deal that both sides can agree on. That hasn’t happened, and a regime change along with a new CBA have been cited as possible reasons.

The big hold up will obviously be money. Scherff is now valued at $15 million per year, and is going to look for a top of the market deal. He is a great player, but he has also dealt with season-ending injuries the last two seasons, and had labrum surgery after his season was shut down in December.

If the Redskins can’t get a long-term deal done by the franchise tag deadline of July 15th, they are left with a few options. They will have Scherff under contract for this year, and they can’t extend him officially until after the final regular season game. They also have the option of just letting him leave in free agency, and likely getting a 3rd round compensatory pick(depending on what else happens in FA).

They have one more option right now, and that is to trade Scherff for draft pick(s) this year. The Redskins have big-time questions on the offensive line, so it seems unlikely that they would trade him. A big question would be what kind of return could Scherff bring coming off an injury, and wanting a big payday? The Redskins have been prepared to make that long-term investment, just not at the price being floated. A lot of that can change between now and the draft in 3 weeks.

For now Brandon Scherff is penciled in as the Week 1 starter at RG. Trent Williams continues to be in limbo while he waits to be traded, so FA signing Cornelius Lucas could be forced to play there if no other moves are made. Second year guard Wes Martin and FA signing Wes Schweitzer will battle for the LG spot vacated by Ereck Flowers. Chase Roullier is locked in at center, but he’s also entering his contract year. And finally Morgan Moses will stay at RT and hopefully be healthy for the first time in years.