We’re not sure if the franchise tag will be valid in the coming weeks and months as the NFL and NFLPA work out a new labor agreement but teams are operating as if it will be. While no player has been tagged 24 hours into the two-week period when the franchise tag is allowed to be utilized, multiple reports are surfacing that various players will receive the tag.
Franchise Tag Expected For Patriots’ Logan Mankins
One of those players is New England Patriots offensive lineman Logan Mankins. According to Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald, Mankins is expected to receive the franchise tag. We're not sure when, exactly, it will hit but it's coming, according to the Herald.
My view was that the longer it takes, the more likely it is that the two sides could strike a deal. But now that I've learned it is definitely coming anyway, I guess the negotiating window extends for a while.
Mankins is one of those players last year that was caught under the six-year restricted free agency umbrella who would have been an unrestricted free agent in other years. That situation let to Mankins sitting out for half the season in protest of the restricted free agent tender.
Whether Mankins gets a long-term deal or not -- and to be clear, he doesn’t want the franchise tag -- the franchise tag cost for an offensive linemen in 2011 is expected to be over $10 million so while it’s not the long-term deal he’s been coveting, it’s still a nice one-year payday.
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