Tagging Time

This is the time of the football offseason that teams make decisions on their own, soon-to-be free agents. Whether to sign them or to tag them? Signing a player to a long term contract is always the best option for the player and the team but it's easier said than done. Neither side ever seems to view the deserved contact numbers the same. The player always wants to make more. The team always wants to pay less. A long term contract brings the player the one thing that he desires most. The signing bonus. The total value of a contract rarely means a thing. It's that bonus that's received as soon as the player puts his name on a contract that means the most. Football rarely looks at the end of the contract. Many players don't even see the end of their contract. It's all about the signing bonus. That's what they see. The team loves the long term contract too. The signing bonus even benefits the team. They pay a bunch up front but they can spread the salary cap hit over the length of the contract. They can play with the numbers over several years to minimize the impact on the salary cap each year. For the team, it's all about managing the salary cap. Teams want to manage the cap but they also want to keep their top players. If they can't come to an agreement on a long term contract with a key player, they can use the franchise tag. It's tool for the teams to further restrict movement of their football players. Both teams and players hate the franchise tag. The players hate it a little more. The franchise tag pays the tagged player an average of the top salaries at their position. It's nice for a player to be among the highest paid at his position for a year. It's nice for a team to keep a key player on their roster for another year. Despite that top salary, the player sees no signing bonus. He likely sees no money at all until he returns for training camp and the start of his next football season. The franchise tag does nothing for his football future beyond that next season. The team, while a little happier than the player, has to deal with a more significant salary cap hit than they'd like. Using the franchise tag is always a desperation move by a team. It's never good to be desperate but it's better than losing a key player.

Let the tagging begin.