‘Tis the season for tagging
Yesterday started the 15 day window when NFL teams can assign franchise and transition player designations on their potential free agents. Although the designations were initially created to protect teams from losing their best players, the tide has turned and now teams make liberal use of the tags as leverage against players year in, year out. With the NFL salary cap rising at a blistering pace in recent years, most teams have plenty of cap space and, as a result, the prospect of paying a one-year salary equal to top 5 money isn’t that difficult a pill to swallow.
Defining the tag designations (from NFLPA.org):
- Franchise Player: Each club may designate one player who would otherwise be an Unrestricted Free Agent as a Franchise Player. The designation must be made between February 7 and February 21 in the year 2008, and the club must tender the Franchise Player an offer equal to the average of the top five salaries in the League at the player’s position. If the tender offers the top five average applicable at the end of the previous season, the Franchise Player can seek offers from other clubs, but the old team can match the offer or receive two first round draft choices from the offering team. If the tender offers the top five average applicable at the end of the upcoming Restricted Free Agent signing period, the club retains exclusive rights to the player and he cannot negotiate with other teams. Franchise Player and Transition Player tenders become fully guaranteed for skill and football injury if the player chooses to accept the tender.
- Transition Players: A club can elect to use a Transition Player designation for one Unrestricted Free Agent instead of using its Franchise Player designation. If it does so, it must tender the player an offer equal to the average of the top 10 salaries in the League at his position. A Transition Player can obtain an offer from any other team, but his old team can only match or not match the offer – it cannot collect any draft choice compensation if it does not match.
2008 Tag Values
| Position | Franchise ($mm) | Transition ($mm) |
|---|---|---|
| QB | $10.730 | $9.560 |
| OL | $7.455 | $6.895 |
| WR | $7.848 | $6.872 |
| RB | $6.538 | $5.699 |
| TE | $4.522 | $3.733 |
| DE | $8.879 | $7.679 |
| DT | $6.363 | $5.654 |
| LB | $8.065 | $7.335 |
| S | $4.396 | $3.893 |
| CB | $9.465 | $7.659 |
| P/PK | $2.514 | $2.245 |
So which players are going to be tagged? We’ll find out soon enough but let’s take a team-by-team look and make some predictions:
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