Should the Redskins Sign Ereck Flowers to a Long-Term Contract?

Ereck Flowers was the ninth overall pick of the 2015 NFL draft by the New York Giants. He was a road-grading tackle for the University of Miami, who played in twelve games as a true freshman (starting four) at right tackle. The following two seasons, he would go on to start 25 games as the Hurricanes left tackle. In late December, 2014, Flowers announced he would not return for his senior season at Miami, and instead enter the 2015 NFL Draft.

The Massive 6’6” 329 pounder showed off his amazing strength at the combine, posting 37 reps at 225 pound on the bench press with 34 ¹⁄₂ inch arms. Despite not wowing scouts with a blazing 40 yard dash(5.31), he did show a very good 10 yard split (1.78). His less-than-stellar athletic measurables, combined with heavy hands and brute strength, had many thinking his best NFL position would be at guard. However, the New York Giants were set on playing him on the edge, and despite struggles there during his 3 ¹⁄₂ seasons, never tried him out on the inside.

The Giants frustrations with Flowers lack of development at tackle forced them to release the young lineman midway through the 2018 season. He was signed by the Jaguars a few days later, and finished the season as the team’s starting left tackle.

With his career in jeopardy, and a lack of teams willing to give him a long-term deal, Flowers chose to sign a one-year, $4 million contract with the Redskins in March of 2019. The Skins had plans to move Flowers inside to guard under offensive line coach Bill Callahan. However, injuries in OTA’s and the absence of Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams, forced the team to plug Flowers in at tackle out of necessity. Reports from mini-camp were not good, and many fans who had hated the signing from the get-go, began to get even more vocal about their displeasure with him - some even going so far as to predict him as a training camp casualty.

Once training camp began, and Callahan was able to move Flowers inside to left guard, things began to change. Fans refused to see it during the team’s first few preseason games, but Flowers’ play was not all that bad.

On September 8, 2019, Flowers made his first ever NFL start at guard against the division rival Philadelphia Eagles. Despite even more fan criticism, Flowers play was actually pretty good. His play on the interior improved each and every game, and it started to open the eyes of “some”. He still, however, had his detractors - especially from fans of other teams who didn’t bother to watch him play as a Redskin, and went solely on his reputation as a draft-flop with the Giants.

As the 2019 season neared an end, the VAST majority of Redskins fans came around to the idea that this guy was pretty darn good at guard. He and center Chase Roullier were the team's best and most consistent offensive lineman during the season, and Flowers was the only lineman to play in every game. He led the Redskins in total number of offensive snaps (936), which equated to 99.57%. The next closest player was Donald Penn who played 884 offensive snaps.

It is very easy to say that Ereck Flowers was one of the most pleasant surprises of the Redskins dreadful 2019 season!

On March 18th, NFL free agency will start. The Redskins have a decision to make on Ereck Flowers’ future with the team.

Reports are flowing that the team is very interested in keeping Ereck Flowers, and will do what is necessary to lock him up.

The question now revolves around what type of contract will the Redskins be willing to offer for the soon-to-be 26 year old guard.

If his play from 2019 is any indicator of the type of money he should receive, Ereck should be in for a pretty nice payday!

So how much is Flowers worth? That’s the big question here...

For a guy who is still learning the guard position, and hasn’t even turned 26 yet, I would EASILY double what he made in 2019 - which was $4 million, on a long-term deal.

My ideal contract for the Redskins would be a four-year deal for $32-36 million with $17M guaranteed. I would also add some escalators for reaching the Pro Bowl and games played, so his deal could max out around $10 million per year.