No, the Dolphins won't be using a Franchise or Transition tag on anybody this year. We don't have anyone who deserves to get it. We only have four unrestricted free agents, and they are:
Chad Pennington
Jason Ferguson
Jason Taylor
Nathan Jones
Pennington won't get it, because he is no longer a player the team "needs". Yes it would be nice to see him come back as a backup to Henne, but that does not deserve a one year contract with $16 million.
Ferguson is probably 50/50 on retiring or returning to the NFL for another season. If he does return for another season, it will be with Miami. He has publicly expressed that he would only play for Miami in 2010 because he doesn't want to have to start over again.
Jason Taylor may come back for another year with the Dolphins, but it would not be a devastating blow if he were to walk to another team.
Would love to see them re-sign Nathan Jones, but he is not a full time starter and definitely not worth a one year deal at $9.5 million.
So, as you can see there is no unrestricted free agent for the Dolphins that is worth the franchise or transition tag.
We have two restricted free agents, Anthony Fasano and Quentin Moses. Fasano will probably get a second round tender which will pay him $1.8 million for the 2010 season. Moses may not get a tender, but if he does it probably would just be the original pick tender which would pay him $1.2 million for 2010 and would cost a team signing him a 3rd round pick.
Davone Bess, Joey Haynos, and Dan Carpenter are all Exclusive Rights Free Agents which means all the Dolphins have to do is offer them a contract and they have to take it.