Players hate the franchise tag, but it’s a necessity for NFL teams.
Instead of letting their best players hit free agency, teams can use the franchise tag. A non-exclusive tag means teams can match any offer sheet to their player, or get two first-round picks as compensation. An exclusive franchise tag means their player can’t even negotiate with anyone else (NFL.com set out the rules of the game in detail here, and here were the estimated tag costs for each position).
The deadline to tag a player this year is March 1, and many teams started making their decisions on Monday. Some still could use the tag by the deadline. Here’s where we stand on who has already been tagged (or reportedly will get it before Wednesday’s deadline), who won’t be tagged, and who might still be tagged:
ALREADY TAGGED
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell
This was an easy call. The Steelers rode Bell hard down the stretch, got to an AFC championship game, and they were not letting him hit free agency. They’re not even letting him negotiate with other teams, giving him the exclusive tag. Bell might be the most talented back in the NFL and the estimated $12.4 million tag is well worth it.
Verdict: Had to be done.
Washington Redskins QB Kirk Cousins
The Redskins have screwed this up pretty bad, as Charles Robinson wrote about Monday, but they’re not letting Cousins go. Cousins’ agent Mike McCartney said the Redskins have put the exclusive franchise tag on Cousins, which means he can’t negotiate with anyone else. There has been a lot said about what Cousins is worth. That’s fine, but here’s reality: Cousins threw for almost 5,000 yards last season and Washington had no other option. Teams that don’t have a good quarterback overpay with contracts, trades and draft picks until they find one. So Washington weren’t going to let Cousins walk, however (though, maybe a trade will happen?). It will get very interesting next offseason, however, if Cousins doesn’t sign a long-term deal and price to tag him again will be more than $30 million. Yikes.
Verdict: The exclusive tag makes it clear that the Redskins had no intentions of moving on.
Los Angeles Chargers OLB Melvin Ingram
Ingram would have been one of the top free agents available if he hit the market. He improved tremendously the past two seasons, had 18.5 sacks, and will be just 28 years old next season. But on Monday night the Chargers ended any speculation and tagged Ingram at a cost of about $14.1 million.
Verdict: It was the smart move; you can’t lose a good pass rusher like this.
Arizona Cardinals OLB Chandler Jones
Giving Jones the tag had to be part of the thought process when they traded the Patriots for Jones last year. The Cardinals said all along they would tag Jones and on Monday they made it official, to nobody’s surprise.
Verdict: You couldn’t trade a second-round pick and lose Jones after one season, so it was the obvious move to tag him.
New York Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul
The Giants didn’t want to let Pierre-Paul go so they will tag him, even though Pierre-Paul has made it clear he didn’t want a third straight one-year deal. And the two sides are nowhere near a long-term deal, according to the New York Post.
Verdict: A long-term deal could get done, but it won’t be until right before the July 15 deadline.
Carolina Panthers DT Kawann Short
Part of the strange and inexplicable move to let Josh Norman go last year was the thought that the savings could go to an extension for Short. That didn’t happen. So the Panthers had to tag Short to make sure he didn’t hit free agency. Now Panthers fans have to hope general manager Dave Gettleman doesn’t revoke it in a fit of impatience, like he did with Norman. Just kidding … we think.
via Yahoo!Sports