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- Free agent predictions for Brandon Scherff
- Scherff hits free agency expecting a big pay day as teams look to protect their QB
- These three teams should pursue the 29-year-old
It’s usually not incredibly exciting to talk about the prospects of interior lineman getting paid, or making an enormous difference in an NFL team’s fortunes. If there’s any doubt about the impact a top tier guard can make, ask Dallas Cowboys fans about how important Zack Martin is to their roster, or how crucial Quenton Nelson has been for the Indianapolis Colts to stabilize their offensive line.
That’s why Brandon Scherff, who has spent all six of his NFL seasons with the Washington Football Team, should garner a ton of interest from around the league. He’s made the Pro Bowl each of the last four seasons, and was named a first team All-Pro for the first time in his career in 2020. Scherff was playing under the Washington franchise tag last season and certainly made a strong case for himself to get a lucrative long term deal.
Let’s take a look at three teams who are likely to aggressively pursue Scherff as a free agent.
Jaguars
It doesn’t really matter how the Jaguars decide to approach their offseason with regards to a possible certain Clemson quarterback being selected number one in the draft, or whether they want to see more of running back James Robinson for another year. Regardless of how you slice it, the Jaguars will need to upgrade their offensive line, and have the most projected cap space in the NFL to make it happen.
The Jaguars finished in the bottom five of the league in total rushing yards, the bottom ten in sacks allowed, and tied for last in rushing touchdowns.
Incumbent guard Andrew Norwell is set to be the highest paid player on the team in 2021, but the Jaguars would be well served solidifying the second guard position with Scherff. That way, the team would feature two All-Pros at guard, to protect whomever is standing in the backfield behind them, which is a good way to build a team.
Jets
The Jets also have a boatload of cap space. They are looking to make their team a little bit more quarterback friendly, whether it’s Sam Darnold under center, or someone else. They did a nice job taking steps to make that happen in the 2020 NFL Draft, by bringing in talented mammoth tackle Mekhi Becton, and promising wide receiver Denzel Mims. But they need to do more.
New Jets head coach Robert Salah has a background coaching for the San Francisco 49ers, who relied on the ground game to control the time of possession and keep the defense fresh.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Salah wanted to employ a similar approach in New York, and bringing in an offensive lineman of Scherff’s caliber would go a long way to towards doing that. The Jets were tied with Jacksonville for fewest rushing touchdowns last season, a figure Salah would not be satisfied with for 2021.
Seahawks
Russell Wilson made some uncharacteristic comments about the organization not doing enough to surround him with enough talent up front during the prime years of his career, and it’s a good bet the squeaky wheel will get the grease this year. The grease in this case, could be Scherff’s All-Pro caliber talent.
As Wilson alluded to with his quote, he was often under siege last season. Seattle was bottom five in the league in sack percentage allowed, and in total sacks allowed.
If they have designs on advancing deep into the playoffs, they’ll need to clean that up. Throwing a bunch of money to Scherff to help solidify the interior of their line wouldn’t be the worst place to start.
