The franchise tag storylines worth following this year
We have five questions about this year's franchise tag period, which ends next week. Plus, a word for whoever is running the SportsCenter Twitter account.
The franchise tag window has been open for a week, and no teams have made a move yet to lock down a free-agent-to-be for the 2022 season. But it’s not unusual for most of them to wait until closer to the deadline, which falls on March 8 this year.
In 2020, 15 players were given either the franchise or transition tag, a higher number than most years due to the then-ongoing CBA talks. Last year, that total dipped a bit to 10 players, with four of them — Taylor Moton, Dak Prescott, Justin Simmons, and Leonard Williams — receiving a multi-year extension before the offseason ended.
The other six played out the 2021 season on their tags and are set to hit free agency, a year later than they would’ve preferred. And for some of them, they’ll command less money than if they had been able to test the open market in 2021.
That’s a big reason the franchise tag sucks, but alas, it’s not going anywhere. So let’s turn our attention to this year and dive into what I think are the most interesting questions about this year’s potential franchise tag candidates.
1. What will happen with Davante Adams?
Davante Adams wouldn’t just be the most coveted wide receiver in this year’s free agency class; he’d be the most coveted player period.
However, it’s highly doubtful that the Packers let their top playmaker leave town.
That presents Green Bay with a couple of options. It could either use the franchise tag on Adams, which neither side really wants. Or it could hammer out a long-term deal before March 8.
But there are two major snags to their plans for Adams: the Packers are currently in salary cap hell, and their … mercurial, let’s say, quarterback is still stringing everyone along.
Adams understandably wants to be the highest-paid receiver in the league like the back-to-back All-Pro that he is, and that would mean he’d average around $30 million per year, or about $10 million more than the franchise tag would net him for 2022. The Packers have to make a few salary cap moves no matter what, and a long-term extension would be doable, depending on the financial gymnastics they pull off.
Aaron Rodgers’ future (and his salary) factors into the equation as well. The Packers will make sure Rodgers’ favorite target stays put if the reigning MVP also stays put. If not, they have less of an incentive to bring back an expensive receiver who will turn 30 before the year ends.
The most likely ending to this saga is that Rodgers announces his return, probably on Pat McAfee’s show, then the Packers tag Adams and work out a long-term deal with him before the July 15 deadline to do so. But until we hear definitive answers from both the team and Rodgers, then the possibility remains that Adams could end up elsewhere.
2. Will Mike Gesicki get tagged … as a tight end?
Here’s a small sample of the many, many things new Dolphins head coach/Yale graduate Mike McDaniel knows:
1. How to play Kiss-Marry-Kill:
2. Great tight ends.
McDaniel had been with the 49ers since 2017, the same year they drafted George Kittle — depending on his health, either the best or second-best tight end in the NFL. Kittle can do it all: He’s an excellent pass catcher and he can dish out some monster blocks.
Mike Gesicki is the former, but he most definitely does not fit the definition of the latter.
The first question is whether McDaniel will want to heavily feature a tight end who can’t really block in his offense. Gesicki is far from the only decent tight end who could be available, and McDaniel might want to try his luck at free agency to find one who can catch and block.
The second question is whether Gesicki would win a fight to be labeled a wide receiver instead of a tight end. The last tight end to try to challenge that designation was Jimmy Graham, who lost that dispute. But Gesicki, the Dolphins’ second-leading receiver in targets, catches, and yards behind Jaylen Waddle, has a better case than Graham ever did.
The difference between getting the franchise tag as a wide receiver vs. as a tight end is, about, oh around $8.3 million. So it’s understandable why Gesicki would want to be called a receiver if he were to get tagged.
I think McDaniel would welcome a weapon like Gesicki, especially since he has good chemistry with Tua Tagovailoa. On the other hand, the Dolphins might not want to gamble more than $8 million on a decision that could be left up to an arbitrator.
3. Who, if anyone, will the Cowboys tag?
The Cowboys were hesitant to use the franchise tag in the first two decades of the designation’s existence. In the past decade, however, they’ve been less shy. Dallas has handed out a tag nine times in its history, with seven of them coming since 2012. Most recently, the Cowboys tagged DeMarcus Lawrence and Dak Prescott twice each, then reached a long-term deal with them after the second time.
It seems likely that they’ll place the tag on one of their many pending free agents, though a few names stand out: wide receiver Michael Gallup, tight end Dalton Schultz, defensive end Randy Gregory, safety Jayron Kearse, and punter Bryan Anger. Gregory’s tag would be the most expensive at around $20.2 million, then Gallup ($19.1M), Kearse ($13.5M), Schultz ($10.8M), and Anger ($5.5M).
All were key players in the Cowboys’ NFC East title run, but their lack of consistency in their career make them prime candidates for a one-year franchise tag. Teams can only use one tag, however, and Dallas has salary cap issues of its own, meaning it’ll have tough decisions to make this month.
4. Who, if anyone, will the Chiefs tag?
Last year, the Chiefs traded for left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., who played well in 2021 and will almost certainly receive the franchise tag if they can’t agree to a new deal before next Tuesday. If Kansas City can secure the 25-year-old to a multi-year contract, then that opens the door for the tag to be used on another player.
Versatile safety Tyrann Mathieu and cover corner Charvarius Ward are the two other most obvious possibilities. Since joining the Chiefs, Mathieu has been a respected leader for the defense, while Ward is coming off a breakout season. Mathieu’s franchise tag would be cheaper than Ward’s by almost $4 million, but the veteran might not take too kindly to the tag, especially after the two sides failed to get an extension done last offseason. Honey Badger will command big money if he hits free agency, perhaps more than Kansas City would be willing to spend on an almost 30-year-old safety.
KC has a lot of decisions to make this offseason, particularly on defense, and figuring out who to let walk will be tricky.
5. Will any player get tagged for the second year in a row?
Teams normally try to avoid giving the same player the franchise tag in back-to-back years because it’s costly, to the tune of 120 percent of the previous year's tag.
Since 2011, nine players have gotten the franchise tag in two consecutive seasons: kicker Phil Dawson, linebacker Anthony Spencer, quarterback Kirk Cousins (the most “good enough to pay, not good enough to commit to” player ever), cornerback Trumaine Johnson, running back Le’Veon Bell (which did not end well for anyone), pass rusher DeMarcus Lawrence, offensive guard Brandon Scherff, quarterback Dak Prescott, and defensive end Leonard Williams.
The last three on that list got their second franchise tag last year, and soon after, Prescott and Williams signed extensions.
Six of 2021’s franchise-tagged group are once again set to be free agents unless they’re tagged or ink a new deal. Bears receiver Allen Robinson and Jets safety Marcus Maye had down years. The Commanders are unlikely to tag Scherff three years in a row due to the high price tag.
Receiver Chris Godwin is a possibility, considering the Bucs will want to lure a new quarterback to Tampa with a full arsenal of weapons. But Godwin’s also coming off an ACL tear and the team’s plans are currently murky:
That leaves Jaguars left tackle Cam Robinson and Saints safety Marcus Williams as the best candidates for that second tag. The Jags have plenty of cap space and a young quarterback to protect. The Saints, uh, definitely don’t have a favorable cap situation because they never do, but Williams is coming off his strongest season yet and new coach Dennis Allen probably won’t want to let one of his defensive stars leave. For their cap’s sake, though, the Saints better move quickly on giving Williams an extension if they do end up tagging him again.
Who is in charge of the SportsCenter Twitter account?
Running a social media account, especially for a high-profile brand, is a much harder job than it might appear to be. Trying to create engaging content for a young, no-attention-span, terminally online audience is not for the faint-hearted.
So when I say the following, it’s not coming from a curmudgeonly place but it’s out of concern: SportsCenter, what are you doing?!?
I’m not sure who is in charge of the SportsCenter Twitter and Instagram accounts, though it’s entirely possible ESPN handed over the keys, without much oversight, to the 27-year-old from Bleacher Report with a lot of followers.
For the most part, the posts are typically what you’d expect from big-name sports accounts: a lot of highlights and a lot of emojis. Whatever, that’s fine. Lately, though, I’ve noticed lazy and/or embarrassing tweets that are shameless ploys for engagement.
Like the one they straight up stole from the unfunny NFL Memes account (which straight up steals from everyone else anyway), rather than make up their own joke about the game everyone was talking about:
Or the Harry Potter (?) tweet they took from some rando with 1K followers who likes to RT pro-Trump garbage:
Or more recently, their tweet that tried to cash in on the Euphoria season finale wave but then had to be deleted because 1) that show is not about sports in any way, 2) the photo contained a pretty big spoiler for the episode that aired a mere 12 hours prior, and 3) it was cheerleading a character who (spoiler alert!) died in a shootout with police, but not before after intentionally killing an officer.
I don’t know if it’s a lack of leadership, a lack of understanding about what the right tone is for SportsCenter, or just the brain warping that happens to anyone who spends too much time on social media. But the person/people behind this account need to stop these brazen grabs for attention. They are, as the youths and/or 30 somethings who want to pretend they’re still in their 20s would say, super cringe.