Brandon Scherff reiterates desire to finish career in Washington

Brandon Scherff reiterated his desire to remain in Washington.

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Washington selected Iowa offensive tackle Brandon Scherff No. 5 overall back in 2015. Initially, then-Washington general manager Scot McCloughan envisioned Scherff as a right tackle, with the intention of giving the team outstanding bookend tackles. Trent Williams was the left tackle.

It didn’t take Washington’s coaching staff long to realize Scherff wouldn’t work at offensive tackle. Early in training camp, the team moved him to right guard, and the rest is history.

Seven years later, Scherff has been selected to five Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro in 2020. So, the move to guard paid off big time for Washington.

Scherff is finally a free agent, and there are no franchise tags this time around. Scherff will test free agency and, more than likely, depart the only franchise he’s ever known.

If Scherff had his way, he’d re-sign with Washington and finish his career in D.C.

“I’d love to be here, and I hope I can end my career here,” Scherff told reporters Monday. “I said that the last couple of times, and that’s always the goal for me, is to kind of finish where you started.”

Scherff was asked why the two sides could never get close to a deal, leading to two franchise tags:

“I couldn’t tell you,” Scherff answered. “That’s between my agent and here.”

Scherff has said repeatedly he’d prefer to remain in Washington. Many fans are skeptical as there was no real movement toward a long-term contract. Keep in mind that may not be due to Scherff. Perhaps Washington wanted to keep it year-to-year with Scherff, knowing it had plenty of cap room the last two years.

Scherff will hit free agency in March. Maybe Washington will make one more attempt to work out a long-term deal with Scherff between now and then, but it appears unlikely after two franchise tags.

Scherff had another outstanding season in 2021, and his value is apparent. Washington was winless without him in the lineup this season. But Scherff made $18 million in 2021; Washington cannot sign him to a deal using that number as a starting point. He’ll be 31 in 2022 and missed six games this season. He hasn’t played 16 games since 2016.

It would be massive for Washington to work out a long-term deal with Scherff. It’s just unlikely to happen. Expect Scherff to be elsewhere in 2022.