Yogi Berra mistakenly said, “It was deja vu, all over again.”
Kirk Cousins was tagged by Washington once, then twice, and then he departed via free agency and was signed by the Vikings. You may recall Bruce Allen told of how they offered Cousins a great deal, but when the details were unveiled, it was clear that Cousins was offered a contract that was not competitive to the NFL market value for starting quarterbacks as durable as Cousins.
Fast forward five years later and Washington has tagged Scherff, tagged Scherff again, and yes, again Washington is looking at Scherff testing the free-agent waters and departing Washington for the highest bidder.
Washington’s primary error was not reaching out to sign Cousins long-term in 2015 when Cousins was willing and Scot McCloughan was urging Allen and Snyder to sign Cousins to a long-term deal.
They didn’t and paid the price with the franchise tag twice and with Cousins’ departure. And now in 2022, Washington has paid the price with the franchise tag twice on Scherff and looks to lose Scherff to NFL free agency.
Washington GM Martin Mayhew surprisingly offered on Tuesday that Scherff has been offered a deal that would make him the highest-paid guard in the NFL, and yet the Scherff camp has rejected the offer.
PFF recently graded the WFT offensive line at No. 6 overall for the 2021 regular season. Chase Rouiller, Sam Cosmi, Wes Schweitzer and Scherff missed much time due to injuries. Yet the offensive line displayed a depth that was impressive. ESPN graded the offensive line at number nine in pass block win rate and number one in run block win rate.
Consequently, I’d not be surprised to see Scherff depart for free agency and the front office draft a guard in April. Also, don’t be surprised if the coaching staff determines to pencil-in Wes Schweitzer as the starting right guard for the 2022 season.