Record Year for the Franchise Tag

by keuka121 on Feb 19, 2009 8:03 PM EST Comment 24 comments

A record (so far) 14 franchise tags have been handed out. Nobody wants to let their good guys walk. I also just read that the Titans will franchise Haynesworth if a deal isn't worked out by the tag deadline (tonight). The free agent pickings are shrinking. Here are the players tagged to date:

Karlos Dansby, Arizona

Terrell Suggs, Baltimore

Julius Peppers, Carolina

Dunta Robinson, CB, Houston

Matt Cassell, New England

Brandon Jacobs, NY Giants

Max Starks, Pittsburgh

Darren Sproles, San Diego

Oshiomogho Atowge, St Louis

Leroy Hill, Seattle

Antonio Bryant, Tampa Bay

Bo Scaife, Tennessee

Michael Koenen, P, Atlanta

Shayne Graham, Cinncinati

And it ain't over yet.

In other noteworthy news, the Raiders signed Asomugha to an astronomical contract. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3919067 Holy Crap. Now anyone doubt what Greer wiill get? At least $6Mil per. The guaranteed money for Asomugha is boggling. I can't wait till the uncapped year. We'll have to tap into Yankee money to stay competitive.

This FanPost was written by a registered user of Buffalo Rumblings. Its views do not necessarily reflect the views of Rumblings' editorial staff, but are just as valued as our own.

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Titans can’t franchise Haynesworth. It was part of his one year contract from this past year.

At least that’s what I thought….

~K
"I’m Kurupt with Buffalo Rumblings. I am worth hundreds!"

by Kurupt on Feb 19, 2009 8:14 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

that is correct, he cannot be franchised since he reached some performance escalators in his contract.

by BuffCrunch on Feb 19, 2009 8:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Could they transition tag him? Probably not. His agent made the comment. Obviously inaccurate.

everything goes better with a BIG MACK

by keuka121 on Feb 19, 2009 8:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Just wow. Good job Raiders. $15M a year for a CB? HAHAHAHA

~K
"I’m Kurupt with Buffalo Rumblings. I am worth hundreds!"

by Kurupt on Feb 19, 2009 8:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Al Davis is single-handedly driving up the price of FA! Guess he didn’t learn anything from handing out those ridiculously huge contracts to average players last season…

by BuffCrunch on Feb 19, 2009 8:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The tag deadline was 4PM today....

this is the list….

Playing Eternal Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008.

by MattRichWarren on Feb 19, 2009 8:28 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

The Raiders basically had to give him that money though.

What else would have kept him in Oakland? A commitment to excellence? A coaching carousel? The lack of winning? When you’re THE bright spot on a team you’re going to get paid like it.

by twoeightnine on Feb 19, 2009 10:33 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Pride and Poise.

“The greatness of the Raiders will continue in it’s future.”

Great plays don't make great players; great players make great plays.

by Fort Worth on Feb 19, 2009 11:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

LOL 15 mil a year for a CB? Way to go AL Davis......

Ralph is now NOT nearly as bad as Davis is…….

12/19/08 - Thank you KLJ for coming into my life.

by norcaliangelsfan on Feb 20, 2009 12:28 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Oh did anyone catch that Shane Lechler got 4mil/yr for the next 4 years............

LOL a punter making 4 million a year…….

I guess if anyone is worth it, it is Lechler.

12/19/08 - Thank you KLJ for coming into my life.

by norcaliangelsfan on Feb 20, 2009 12:30 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think the franchise tag is so dumb...

A team shouldn’t be able to tag someone back to back years. A team can just keep giving a guy a one year contract until he gets injured or isn’t good anymore. I think Peppers, Dansby, and Suggs are all repeat guys. Sucks to be them.

Don't forget to pay the troll toll...

by evdawg419 on Feb 20, 2009 7:02 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

that's guaranteed money

to some players that are not worth the avg salary of the top 5 players at that respective position. Max Starks has been tagged 2 years in a row and I wouldn’t place him in the top 20 tackles in the league. I guess for some players it is good and other not so much

by gatornation on Feb 20, 2009 8:48 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Plus it's not the same thing every year...

Year 1 is Avg. of 5 highest guys in the league.
Year 2 is 120% of your year one tag. So it’s like getting a 20% raise every year. Who wouldn’t want that?

By year five you are making twice as much as the first year of your tag.

Playing Eternal Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008.

by MattRichWarren on Feb 20, 2009 12:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If I got a 20% raise every year, i’d be Ko Simpson Jr!

Seriously though, next year, if things go uncapped, what’s going to happen to Buffalo? No way they have 400 million to hand out to 3 players, as the Yankees have done already.

"Buffalo Bills Football 2009 (sponsored by Labatt): A Future as Uncertain as the Beer You’re Drinking"

"It's not delivery, it's DiGiorgio!"

by TheAfghanTwilight on Feb 20, 2009 3:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It would be a mess for almost every team out there.

Dallas and the Jets probably throwing money around.

Playing Eternal Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008.

by MattRichWarren on Feb 20, 2009 3:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think people would rather have long term guaranteed money and that is why everyone gets so upset when they get tagged. I usually don’t side with the players, but if a guy’s knee blows up I’d feel for him. Granted they are making more than some people make in a lifetime, but I don’t really thinks its fair for them to never hit the open market and cash in like everyone else.

Don't forget to pay the troll toll...

by evdawg419 on Feb 20, 2009 12:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Brian, or whoever else knows

Is all this franchise tagging in some way related to the new CBA negotiations?

If we can finagle DE Brian Orakpo and C Alex Mack I will not complain about this team for a whole season. I promise.

by poz on Feb 20, 2009 12:57 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

My opinion

It could be related for one reason…

Say I’m Baltimore and I want to keep Terrel Suggs around. I tag him this year and next year without a cap I can give him a huge contract to stay with me and not worry about the salary cap anymore. But because that move is so short-sighted I just don’t think that’s happening.

If you are thinking along the lines of the owners trying to screw guys out of money for leverage in the negotiations I don’t think that’s happening.

Playing Eternal Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008.

by MattRichWarren on Feb 20, 2009 1:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

is a deal going to get done?

before 2010? If it doesn’t the league is going to fall apart

If we can finagle DE Brian Orakpo and C Alex Mack I will not complain about this team for a whole season. I promise.

by poz on Feb 20, 2009 1:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That's the multi-billion dollar question.

2009 capped, 2010 uncapped, 2011 nothing. Something has to get done at some point for there to even be football in 2011.

Playing Eternal Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008.

by MattRichWarren on Feb 20, 2009 1:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Is there truth to that? Why would the league fold without a salary cap?

Also, suppose things go capless in 2010, then capped in 2011, do those figures that teams carry from 2010 count against the new cap? I can’t recall what happened the first time the cap came about. I know the money was far less though.

If teams were to have a 500 million figure in 2010 and the new cap was 200 million, wouldn’t they be forced to dump all those guys they paid oodles to?

"Buffalo Bills Football 2009 (sponsored by Labatt): A Future as Uncertain as the Beer You’re Drinking"

"It's not delivery, it's DiGiorgio!"

by TheAfghanTwilight on Feb 20, 2009 3:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Without going to far in depth about it...

The league wouldn’t fold without a salary cap in 2011. It just means the player and owners hadn’t agreed on a contract and there would be a lockout.

Before he died Gene Upshaw said if the league ever goes without a cap it will never get one back. Nobody knows what would happen if 2010 happened and it went uncapped. I don’t think the owners will let that happen. Too much is lost for teams without Jerry Jones running the show.

In theory your example makes sense. They would be forced to dump guys to get under the cap. That’s why if it does happen we may never see a cap again or it may be phased back in at best.

Playing Eternal Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008.

by MattRichWarren on Feb 20, 2009 3:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I could forsee an option to keep star players (if they had to return to capped) by giving up 1st round picks to teams without that star/money power. I’m not so sure there aren’t bunches of team owners who are against having no salary cap. Things are bound to get interesting.

"Buffalo Bills Football 2009 (sponsored by Labatt): A Future as Uncertain as the Beer You’re Drinking"

"It's not delivery, it's DiGiorgio!"

by TheAfghanTwilight on Feb 20, 2009 4:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs