It's Tagging Time!

Today is the the first day that NFL teams can slap the franchise tag on one of their pending free agents. The window for tagging players closes March 5 (at 4pm ET). Teams have until then to negotiate a long-term contract. Absent a deal, tagging becomes the only option to restrict the movement of a team's free agent. Since a long-term deal is always the preferred option it's likely that we won't hear any tagging news until closer to the tagging deadline.

Using the franchise tag is an expensive, short-term solution. These projected tag values show that:

Position	Franchise Tag	Transition Tag
QB	$25,578,000	23,356,000
DE	18,653,000	15,735,000
WR	17,101,000	14,738,000
CB	15,992,000	13,891,000
LB	15,777,000	13,627,000
DT	15,571,000	12,287,000
OL	15,283,000	13,717,000
S	12,037,000	10,268,000
RB	11,980,000	9,739,000
TE	10,930,000	9,124,000
ST	5,162,000	4,712,000

The transition tag has been used so infrequently in recent years that I'm not sure if teams even consider it. But it's still an option. 

A problem with the tags can be easily seen. It's never made sense that the offensive line positions are grouped together while the defensive line positions are not. A team wanting to tag a center shouldn't be forced to pay him something closer to left tackle dollars. The same is true at linebacker. The $15,777,000 franchise tag is more representative of a pass rushing 3-4 linebacker than one that plays off the ball. Linebacker Anthony Barr is probably the biggest impending free agent of the Minnesota Vikings. He's an off-the-ball, strong-side linebacker in a 4-3 defense. The Vikings have used the franchise tag twice in the 26 years that it's been available. They last used it in 2011 so the current decision-making regime has never used it. It would be a stunning turn if the Vikings use a rarely used tool to retain Barr at a price that isn't close to representative of the position that he plays. The offensive line positions should be separated and edge pass rushers should be grouped together when it comes to generating franchise/transition tag numbers. The special teams positions should be separated while they're at it.

It's amazing that running backs are so far down the tagging number list. There was a time when the top backs in the league rivaled quarterbacks among the top paid players.

There are a lot of teams that do rely on the franchise tag to keep a player from moving. Here are some teams that might do so over the coming days and the players that could be slapped. 

Dallas Cowboys: Demarcus Lawrence, DE

Houston Texans: Jadeveon Clowney, LB

Atlanta Falcons: Grady Jarrett, DT

Kansas City Chiefs: Dee Ford, LB

Seattle Seahawks: Frank Clark, DE

New York Giants: Landon Collins, S

San Francisco 49ers: Robbie Gould, K

Baltimore Ravens: C.J. Mosley, LB

Philadelphia Eagles: Nick Foles, QB

I hate to include Nick Foles on this list. If the Eagles tag Foles it won't be to keep him. It'll be to trade him. That pretty much wrecks the spirit of the franchise tag. 

It's more likely that the Ravens sign Mosley to an extension than tag him. As with the Vikings-Barr example, Mosley is an off-the-ball linebacker and that job doesn't fall into the pass rusher price range. No matter how good he is at the position that he plays he isn't going to get pass rusher money. 

The tagging season is the next step of the NFL offseason and it starts today. It won't trigger much immediate action.