The NFL’s franchise tag deadline for the 2017 season has passed. This year, seven players received the tag — two for the second year in a row. Washington franchised quarterback Kirk Cousins last spring and then did it again this year, meaning he’ll get plenty of money up front but failing to provide the stability of a lengthy contract. As a result, the relationship between the two may be irreparably damaged and could lead to Cousins’ departure in 2018.
NFL franchise tag 2017: Kirk Cousins, Chandler Jones, Le’Veon Bell all got tagged
The deadline to lock down the league’s most coveted free agents was 4 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson was also tagged for the second straight year.
The trend in 2017 has been to lock down pass rushers. Four of the seven players tagged are players known for giving quarterbacks headaches: Chandler Jones, Kawann Short, Melvin Ingram, and Jason Pierre-Paul. That leaves just two designees, Cousins and All-Pro tailback Le’Veon Bell, as the offensive representatives, plus Johnson in the secondary.
Which star free agents have earned the franchise tag in 2017?
Here’s how much each player will earn if he plays next season under the tag:
Arizona Cardinals: Chandler Jones, LB, $14.550,000
Carolina Panthers: Kawann Short, DT, $13,378,000
Los Angeles Chargers: Melvin Ingram, LB, $14,550,000
Los Angeles Rams: Trumaine Johnson, CB, $16,750,000
New York Giants: Jason Pierre-Paul, DE, $16,934,000
Pittsburgh Steelers: Le’Veon Bell, RB, $12,120,000
Washington: Kirk Cousins, QB, $25,512,000
Which big free agents aren’t getting the franchise tag in 2017?
Baltimore Ravens: Brandon Williams, DT. John Harbaugh said the run-stopper won’t get the tag.
Chicago Bears: Alshon Jeffery, WR. Chicago did not use the franchise tag to retain its top wide receiver.
Cincinnati Bengals: Kevin Zeitler, OG
Cleveland Browns: Terrelle Pryor, WR. The Browns are still trying to work on re-signing Pryor, though.
Green Bay Packers: Nick Perry, LB. Green Bay will attempt to bring back their impact linebacker with a long-term contract instead.
Houston Texans: A.J. Bouye, CB. After a breakout year, Bouye will become a free agent.
Kansas City Chiefs: Dontari Poe, DT. The Chiefs locked down Eric Berry before they had to use the franchise tag on him, but they still won’t use it on Poe.
Kansas City Chiefs: Eric Berry, S. Kansas City made him the richest safety in league history instead.
New England Patriots: Dont’a Hightower, LB. The Patriots still want to bring their defensive captain back — just not on the franchise tag.
New England Patriots: Martellus Bennett, TE.
What is the franchise tag?
The franchise tag is the league’s way of ensuring teams can lock down at least one star player each year — even if it means shelling out a premium one-year contract. Designed to protect small-market teams from losing key free agents while guaranteeing star players are compensated as such, the franchise tag can be a boon for some players and a headache for others.
The designation can be applied to impending free agents, locking them into a one-year deal with their most recent team. The value of the short-term contract is tied to the average of the top five salaries at their position. For a quarterback, that came out to nearly $20 million last spring.
The franchise tag can also serve as a placeholder for a long-term contract down the road. Since tagging a player effectively keeps him from the free agent market, it buys time for two sides to work out a palatable deal. This happened in 2016 when the Denver Broncos used the designation on linebacker Von Miller, then worked out a deal that made him the highest-paid defensive player ever four months later.
Tagging a player isn’t an ironclad guarantee things will work out. The Carolina Panthers failed to see eye-to-eye with All-Pro cornerback Josh Norman on a long-term contract last year, leading management to pull the tag. The decision was a lucrative one for Norman, whom Washington signed to a five-year, $75 million contract last April. Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman promised the same problem would happen again this spring with Short.
More commonly, using the franchise designation and delaying a long-term contract in a league with short careers can create a rift between players and teams.
This year, the two sides have until July 15 to work out a long-term deal. If they can’t, the franchise-tagged player will end up playing the 2017 season under the one-year tender.
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