Ereck Flowers is returning to the Washington Football Team after a one year layover in Miami. The two teams agreed to a trade of Flowers and a swap of late round draft picks, in an apparent cap dump move.
Flowers is scheduled to make $9 million this season. Miami have two first round draft picks in 2021, and a big draft bill on the way.
The former Miami Hurricane started 14 games for the Dolphins last year, after signing a 3-year $30 million deal. He was likely penciled in as their 2021 starter.
Former First Round Pick
Flowers was originally drafted ninth overall in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft, by the New York Giants. He appeared in 46 games for them in three seasons, before moving to Jacksonville in 2018. He played in thirteen games for the Jags before moving to Washington.
The 6’6″ 335-pound tackle moved inside to guard, while with Washington the first time around in 2019. He has played there ever since.
Last year he played 857 snaps, and allowed three sacks. He also committed five penalties according to PFF.
Upgrade?
Comparatively, Wes Schweitzer played 990 snaps and allowed two sacks and the same five penalties at left guard for Washington.
That’s pretty much a dead heat.
Who will be the starter come opening day will probably come down to a camp battle, but the move definitely upgrades the offensive line as a unit.
Scherff Fire Backup
While Brandon Scherff is obviously firmly entrenched at right guard, the fact that he hasn’t played a full slate of 16 games since his 2015 rookie season does bear mentioning. And a little bit of concern.
It makes having a starting calibre backup in your offensive line den not only a luxury, but maybe even a necessity.
Wether Flowers or Schweitzer win the battle at left guard is of no consequence to the fact that the unit as a whole is better having one of the two of them, to back-up either guard position.
Grade
That alone, makes this 2021 free agency move a good one, despite perhaps not being an obvious upgrade to the starting lineup. Grade: A
Combined with the rest of the 2021 free agency additions, this has been a very positive offseason for Washington.
Now if they could just draft a stud left tackle…