Brandon Scherff as expected has played his last down with the Washington Commanders. The All-Pro right guard intends to sign a free agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Term of the deal were not disclosed.
Washington drafted Scherff with the fifth overall pick in 2015. He made five Pro Bowls in his seven seasons with Washington. The last two were spent playing on the franchise tag.
Washington kept its team control over Scherff with a fifth-year option and then back-to-back franchise tags. But, it was apparent when contract talks broke off last year before the July 15 deadline that Scherff’s days were numbered in Washington.
Commanders general manager Martin Mayhew publicly acknowledged the team made an offer that would have made Scherff the highest-paid offensive guard in the NFL.
Last season, the tag on Scherff was priced at $18.036 million which was more than the highest-paid guard’s annual average salary of $16 million. His asking price seemingly would have been higher and for a team without a franchise quarterback, it’s hard to justify paying an offensive guard anywhere close to $20 million per year.
Scherff started each of his first 46 games. However, the injuries piled up and he didn’t play more than 13 games from 2018-2021. In 2020, he earned a first-team All-Pro nod despite missing three games with an MCL injury.
Now, Scherff will protect last year’s No. 1 overall pick quarterback Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville. The Jaguars have been big spenders in Day 1 of the legal tampering period.
Jacksonville has agreed to deals with linebacker Foye Oluokun (three-years, $45 million), defensive tackle Folorunso Fatukasi and wide receiver Christian Kirk.
