Al Galdi: Optimism the Washington Football Team will re-sign both Brandon Scherff & Ereck Flowers

Al Galdi explains the reasons to be optimistic that the Washington Football Team will re-sign both Brandon Scherff and Ereck Flowers.

The window within which NFL teams could tag players was to be from Feb. 27, 2020 – March 12, 2020 at 4 p.m. Eastern. But we learned on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, that the NFL had decided to extend the window to Monday, March 16, 2020, at 11:59:59 a.m. Eastern. The legal tampering period began on Monday, March 16, 2020, at noon Eastern. The NFL’s new league year began on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, at 4 p.m. Eastern.

NFL insider Ian Rapoport of NFL Media last Friday tweeted that the Washington Football Team were working hard to sign Brandon Scherff to a contract extension in order to avoid having to franchise-tag him.

Scherff has missed 13 games over the last two seasons. He played in just 11 games in 2019 and just 8 games in 2018. The Washington Football Team placed Scherff on the reserve/injured list in early December, off him having been inactive for the 37-27 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at FedEx Field in Week 15 due to shoulder and elbow injuries. He underwent labrum surgery on December 20th. Scherff in 2018 was placed on the reserve/injured list on Nov. 5, 2018, due to a torn pectoral muscle suffered in the 38-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 9.

For comparison’s sake, longtime Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman Marshal Yanda, who we learned on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, had decided to retire, totaled six holding penalties over his final 94 regular-season games (2013-2019).

Ron Rivera in a conversation with Larry Michael at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis in Feb. 2020, said that the Skins were going to try to re-sign both Ereck Flowers and Brandon Scherff.

Washington Football Team insider JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington yesterday,tweeted that the Skins were engaged in contract talks with Flowers, adding that there was no guarantee that a deal would get done before free agency but also that both sides wanted things to work out.

Flowers was one of the best feel-good stories on the 2019 3-13 Washington Football Team. He went from having been a bust as a left tackle, including struggling mightily at left tackle during Washington Football Team 2019 offseason practices, during which the team needed to play Flowers at tackle due to so many tackles being out, to becoming a staple at left guard. Flowers in 2019 started all 16 games for the Washington Football Team and played on a team-high 99.57 percent of their offensive snaps – yes, no Redskin played more on offense for the 2019 Washington Football Team than Ereck Flowers. He committed five accepted penalties and six total penalties and registered an overall grade of 64.2 per Pro Football Focus, which charged him with allowing just two sacks the entire season.

The 2020 season will be just Flowers’ age-26 season.

Flowers has played in 75 of a possible 80 regular-season games over his five seasons (2015-2019), and three of the missed games had to do with him going from the New York Giants to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018.

The Washington Football Team initially signed Flowers on March 18, 2019, to a one-year contract.

The New York Giants took Flowers with the ninth-overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Miami – Da U. He played in and started 46 of a possible games over his first three regular seasons, serving as the Giants’ left tackle. But he just wasn’t that good. He led the Giants in penalties in each of his first three seasons. He per Pro Football Focus allowed 169 total pressures over his first three seasons, the most for any offensive tackle during that span.

Entering the 2018 season, the Giants moved Flowers from left to right tackle off having signed signed free-agent left tackle Nate Solder. Flowers was benched after the Giants’ 0-2 start to the 2018 season. The Giants waived him on Oct. 9, 2018. Over his final three games with the Giants, Flowers played a total of 12 snaps, all of them as a blocker on extra points and field goals. The Jacksonville Jaguars signed Flowers on Oct. 12, 2018. He played in eight games with seven starts for the Jags.

To hear anything you might’ve missed from The Morning Blitz with Al Galdi check it out in The Team 980 Audio Vault or The Team 980 App.

Al Galdi: Optimism the Washington Football Team will re-sign both Brandon Scherff & Ereck Flowers  was originally published on theteam980.com