Brandon

Scherff

Scherff retires with five Pro Bowl nominations, one first-team All-Pro honor and a 2015 PFWA All-Rookie Team award on his mantle. He spent his first seven seasons in the NFL playing for the Commanders, who drafted him fifth overall. He spent his remaining three seasons with the Jaguars. The former offensive guard was recently inducted into the Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame.

Scherff had a mammoth $24 million cap number. Provided it’s an actual restructure and not a pay cut, we would assume the majority of Scherff’s $15 million 2024 salary has been converted to a bonus that prorates over the final four seasons of his deal. That includes three void years. The 32-year-old was shaky in 2022 but earned better Pro Football Focus marks in 2023. Scherff has been far more durable in Jacksonville than Washington.

Scherff missed some of the team’s Week 1 win over the Colts with an ankle issue. He was limited in practice this week but will suit up against Kansas City in what should be a high-scoring affair against a Chiefs front seven with Chris Jones, who missed Week 1 due to contract negotiation issues. Pederson said Luke Fornet (ankle) would also be active for Week 2. It’s good news for Trevor Lawrence, who was pressured on a league-leading 33.3 percent of his Week 1 drop backs.

Scherff had his ankle rolled up on in Sunday’s Week 1 win over the Colts, but eventually returned to the game, before later exiting again. The All-Pro guard doesn’t sound like he’s an immediate risk to miss Week 2’s matchup against the Chiefs, but we’ll have a better sense of his status when Wednesday’s injury report is released. If Scherff is unable to go, guard Tyler Shatley would be first in line to draw the start.

He got in limited practices on Wednesday and Thursday after not practicing Tuesday. It seems extremely likely he’ll suit up for the Jags on Saturday as he’s managed this injury for multiple weeks now. Tuesday was probably just a rest day.

It’s likely just a rest day for Scherff, who has been listed with this injury the last few weeks and got in only limited practices all of last week, but with Luke Fortner (back) also suddenly on the injury report this could become a dicey situation for Jacksonville’s interior offensive line if more absences pile up. There’s no reason for concern just yet.

There had been much speculation as to why Scherff’s agent had yet to leak the details of his pact, but a 30-year-old guard bringing home over $16 million per year is a total triumph, and keeps Scherff amongst the league’s highest-paid interior linemen. He played 2021 on the franchise tag. From the Jags’ perspective, it’s a huge commitment to a 30-plus player who has missed multiple games with injury each of the past five seasons.

The details haven’t been released yet but Scherff will undoubtedly be one of the highest-paid guards in the league. Scherff has made the Pro Bowl in five of the past six seasons. He also earned a First-Team All-Pro nod in 2020. Pro Football Focus ranked him as their No. 13 guard last year. After watching Trevor Lawrence struggle through his rookie season, the Jags are making a point to set him up for success in his second season. Brining back Cam Robinson and adding Scherff at right guard should keep Lawrence working from a clean pocket more often in 2022.

The top interior lineman available, Scherff is not expected to re-sign with the Commanders. Each of the Jags, Bengals and Jets would make sense from both a salary cap and need perspective. Although he is now on the wrong side of 30, Scherff’s bank account should be much larger in less than 48 hours time.

Scherff, 30, has been slapped with the franchise tag each of the previous two offseasons, and Keim reports “there has been little legitimate movement toward a long-term deal” this time around. The tag is no longer an option, and the sides appear headed their separate ways. The former No. 5 overall pick hasn’t played a full season since 2016 and has missed 22 contests over the last four years. We’d still expect him to be handsomely paid on the open market next month.