Monday was a strange day in the NFL.
It was officially the first day that teams could place franchise tags on one of their players. What’s strange about that? Well, the league’s personnel office was closed for President’s Day, and the cost of the tags isn’t known yet.
One league source told 101sports.com “the teams have a fairly good idea where the tags will fall.” Plus, the reality is there is no urgency yet because there is a two-week window until March 5 for the tags to be extended.
Complicating matters this year is a new method of determining the tenders, agreed to last summer in the collective bargaining agreement.
Previously, the tags were based simply on the average of the five highest cap figures from the year before for each position. Now, they are calculated by first figuring the average franchise tender for each position over the last five years. Then, the average salary-cap number is calculated for those five years, followed by figuring the percentage of the five-year cap number for each position tender.
That percentage is then used with this year’s cap to determine each tender. For example, if the average quarterback tender was 10 percent of the five-year cap average, then this year’s quarterback tender will be 10 percent of the 2012 cap.
The last step has led to the delay in figuring the exact tenders because the precise cap total for this year has yet to be determined. The cap, before rollovers and credits, will be around $120.375 million.
That is why teams know relatively closely what the tenders will be. The new methodology could also lead to a large number of tenders because the figures are lower than in recent years.
These are the franchise tags since 2010 in millions, with the estimated tenders for this year.
2010 2011 2012 (estimated)
Quarterbacks $16.405 $15.975 $14.4
Running backs $8.156 $9.684 $7.7
Wide receivers $9.521 $11.933 $9.6
Tight ends $5.908 $7.285 $5.4
Offensive linemen $10.731 $10.510 $9.4
Defensive ends $12.398 $13.005 $10.6
Defensive tackles $7.003 $12.381 $7.9
Linebackers $9.680 $10.190 $8.8
Cornerbacks $9.566 $14.354 $10.6
Safeties $6.455 $9.625 $6.2
Kickers/Punters $2.814 $3.260 $2.5
Players that receive a non-exclusive franchise tag are able to negotiate with other teams, but if an offer sheet is presented and not matched, the compensation is two first-round draft picks.
If a player is made an exclusive franchise player, he is unable to negotiate with other teams, and his eventual tender will be determined by the average of the five highest salary-cap figures as of the end of the restricted free-agent signing period in April.
Tenders for some players with large salaries, if exercised, can be higher than the above chart if 120 percent of the player’s 2011 salary ends up being more. It’s why the Houston Texans won’t franchise linebacker Mario Williams because his tender would be more than $22 million.
Once a player receives the franchise tender, he has until July 15 to sign a long-term contract with his team. After that, he can only sign a one-year contract.
Despite the lower franchise numbers, once tendered, the entire amount counts against the cap at the start of the league year on March 13. Long-term deals will generally result in a lower cap figure, at least in the first year, and the large amounts of guaranteed money in longer-term contracts is obviously more attractive to the player. Some players also stay away from offseason workouts and even training camp when franchised.
It’s why negotiations will likely be intense in numerous situations in the next few weeks.
In New Orleans, the Saints are hoping to reach agreement with quarterback Drew Brees so they can potentially franchise guard Carl Nicks and avoid having to franchise Brees.
Kansas City, with its signing of former Oakland cornerback Stanford Routt is now better protected against the possibility of cornerback Brandon Carr leaving as a free agent. It also creates the likelihood that the Chiefs will franchise wide receiver Dwayne Bowe.
Houston is debating whether to franchise restricted free-agent running back Arian Foster or just tender him as a RFA where only one first-round pick would be the potential compensation with a tender of between $2.6 and $2.7 million.
Other free-agents-to-be that will be considered for franchise tags are Arizona defensive end Calais Campbell, Atlanta linebacker Curtis Lofton, Baltimore running back Ray Rice and guard Ben Grubbs, Buffalo wide receiver Stevie Johnson, Chicago running back Matt Forte, Cleveland linebacker D’Qwell Jackson, Dallas linebacker Anthony Spencer, Denver kicker Matt Prater, Detroit defensive end Cliff Avril, Green Bay tight end Jermichael Finley.
Indianapolis defensive end Robert Mathis, Jacksonville kicker Josh Scobee, Miami nose tackle Paul Soliai, New England wide receiver Wes Welker, New York Jets nose tackle Sione Pouha, Philadelphia wide receiver DeSean Jackson, Pittsburgh wide receiver Mike Wallace, San Diego wide receiver Vincent Jackson, San Francisco safety Dashon Goldson, Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch and Tennessee cornerback Cortland Finnegan.
It seems unlikely Soliai and Jackson will be franchised after they played last season for the franchise tender. Soliai’s was $12.381 million, which would make his tender for this year $14.857 million. Jackson’s tender in 2011 was $11.933 million, which would produce a $14.320 tender this year. Wallace is unlikely to be franchised at $9.6 million by the Steelers because he will be a restricted free agent and the Steelers have been restructuring contracts in order to be cap compliant by March 13.
Click here to print this article.