Morgan Moses Trade: Path To Washington Contracts For Scherff? Or Allen?

Morgan Moses is on his way out of Ashburn, but could the savings on his contract lead to that money being reinvested in a Brandon Scherff or Jonathan Allen deal?

ASHBURN, Va. -- Could Morgan Moses' pending trade or release set up the Washington Football Team better for a long-term extension for Brandon Scherff or Jonathan Allen?

That's a question that has to be tackled.

Clearly, Washington could have multiple reasons for letting go of Moses, reasons that do not directly have anything to do with any other player. But make no mistake, a savings in one spot could allow something else to be done in another area.

The most obvious reasoning is that Moses is 30, coming off a year in which he was OK-to-above-average and struggled in some spots, especially at the end of the Seattle game. He was hurting, but typical of Moses, he tried to gut it out and got exposed on two plays to end the game.

The other obvious reason is that Moses' cap number is $9.635 million for this year and $7.75 million for 2022 ... but there's only a $1.9 million dead-cap hit to get out of the contract for good.

Moses' OverTheCap.com (OTC) contract valuation for 2020 was $11.53 million per OTC.

The less obvious question once the Moses situation gets settled is this: Does it lead to finally getting a long-term deal done with Brandon Scherff?

Or does it start the wheels moving on the defensive line, where this coaching staff is clearly invested?

Our belief is that the ship has sailed on getting a multi-year deal done with Scherff, but obviously it would be silly to completely rule it out. The two sides have until July 15 to get a deal done and perhaps by saving around $15 million over the next two years by moving on from Moses, there is a way the WFT can be more aggressive in paying Scherff over a three or four-year deal.

READ MORE: Scherff an All-Pro

That would not be smart in our eyes, as we've repeatedly said. Scherff is a better player than Moses, but he's not the dominant player he's often billed as - not to mention that Scherff is 30 years old and way less reliable in terms of availability than Moses is.

If you're moving on from a guy in his 30s who plays a more premier position than Scherff, does it make sense to then jump to a massive deal with Scherff? We are dubious there.

It does make sense, however, to start heavily investing in the defensive line and specifically Allen.

Our colleague at The Team 980 in Washington, Kevin Sheehan, mentioned earlier this week that he heard a contract extension would be done for Allen probably before training camp.

More Moses: 1) Remember Moses backed Trent Williams saying ‘it’s about time someone stands up to the team. 2) he could be looking for a new deal that team doesn’t want to give 3) team could be clearing space for new Jon Allen deal which will happen & soon. #WashingtonFootball

— Kevin Sheehan (@kevinsheehanDC) May 18, 2021

That should surprise nobody, but the timing is interesting. It's possible that Allen and his agent have told Washington management that once camp starts, Allen just wants to singularly focus on football.

READ MORE: Contract Coming Soon for Allen?

Allen is a no-nonsense leader and yes, he would be pestered about it every time he spoke to the media, so the motivational writing is on the wall: Get a deal done. Now.

We say that WFT should be much more invested in getting long-term deals done with Allen and Daron Payne than they should with Brandon Scherff. But in any event, the Moses decision will mark one hurdle to clear before moving on to the next.