Buffalo Sucks
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Courtesy SI's Peter King:
The Franchise Player Tag. By slapping the franchise tag on a player, a team agrees to pay the player the average of the top five players at that position, or a 20 percent raise over his 2006 salary, whichever is greater. Usually the average of the top five is greater. If another team makes a franchise player an offer, the original team can match the offer and keep the player, or it can let the player go and take two first-round picks as compensation, or (and this is what usually takes place if a team wants to dangle a player in the trade market) the team can negotiate with a team trying to acquire the franchise player by accepting fewer than two first-round picks.
The Transition Player Tag. When a team designates a transition player, the team designates his salary at an average of the top 10 players at his position, or a 20 percent raise over his 2006 salary, whichever is greater. If another team makes a transition player an offer, the original team can match the offer and keep the player or surrender the player for a draft pick or picks.
Last season, a surprisingly low four players got one of the two tags ... a number sure to be surpassed this year. Three players -- John Abraham of the Jets, Jeff Backus of Detroit and Nate Clements of Buffalo -- were designated with the franchise tag; Backus and Clements signed with their teams for 2006, but Abraham was traded to Atlanta. The fourth player, Seattle guard Steve Hutchinson, was declared a transition player, which led to Minnesota signing him and Seattle choosing not to match the offer.
Teams have until Feb. 22 to designate franchise or transition players. Free-agency begins March 2. I think there will be a big influx of tags on players, because teams have an average of $18 million to spend in the free-agent and draft-pick market entering this off-season. So Indianapolis, for example, is not going to allow Dwight Freeney, a looming free-agent, to see the open market because he'd be snapped up in a second.
It'll be interesting to see, though, if a team out there with a low first-round pick and significant cap money (the Saints, picking 27th in the first round, have about $21 million in cap room) chooses to pursue a franchised player or one given a transition tag, and attempts to work out a trade for him.
The numbers per position:
Franchise vs. Transition
Position Franchise Number Transition Number
Quarterback $12.615 million $10.182 million
Running back $6.999 million $5.981 million
Wide receiver $7.613 million $3.612 million
Tight end $4.371 million $3.612 million
Offensive line $9.556 million $8.267 million
Defensive end $8.644 million $7.701 million
Defensive tackle $6.775 million $5.554 million
Linebacker $7.206 million $6.493 million
Cornerback $7.790 million $6.766 million
Safety $4.490 million $3.984 million
Kicker/Punter $2.078 million $1.926 million
The Franchise Player Tag. By slapping the franchise tag on a player, a team agrees to pay the player the average of the top five players at that position, or a 20 percent raise over his 2006 salary, whichever is greater. Usually the average of the top five is greater. If another team makes a franchise player an offer, the original team can match the offer and keep the player, or it can let the player go and take two first-round picks as compensation, or (and this is what usually takes place if a team wants to dangle a player in the trade market) the team can negotiate with a team trying to acquire the franchise player by accepting fewer than two first-round picks.
The Transition Player Tag. When a team designates a transition player, the team designates his salary at an average of the top 10 players at his position, or a 20 percent raise over his 2006 salary, whichever is greater. If another team makes a transition player an offer, the original team can match the offer and keep the player or surrender the player for a draft pick or picks.
Last season, a surprisingly low four players got one of the two tags ... a number sure to be surpassed this year. Three players -- John Abraham of the Jets, Jeff Backus of Detroit and Nate Clements of Buffalo -- were designated with the franchise tag; Backus and Clements signed with their teams for 2006, but Abraham was traded to Atlanta. The fourth player, Seattle guard Steve Hutchinson, was declared a transition player, which led to Minnesota signing him and Seattle choosing not to match the offer.
Teams have until Feb. 22 to designate franchise or transition players. Free-agency begins March 2. I think there will be a big influx of tags on players, because teams have an average of $18 million to spend in the free-agent and draft-pick market entering this off-season. So Indianapolis, for example, is not going to allow Dwight Freeney, a looming free-agent, to see the open market because he'd be snapped up in a second.
It'll be interesting to see, though, if a team out there with a low first-round pick and significant cap money (the Saints, picking 27th in the first round, have about $21 million in cap room) chooses to pursue a franchised player or one given a transition tag, and attempts to work out a trade for him.
The numbers per position:
Franchise vs. Transition
Position Franchise Number Transition Number
Quarterback $12.615 million $10.182 million
Running back $6.999 million $5.981 million
Wide receiver $7.613 million $3.612 million
Tight end $4.371 million $3.612 million
Offensive line $9.556 million $8.267 million
Defensive end $8.644 million $7.701 million
Defensive tackle $6.775 million $5.554 million
Linebacker $7.206 million $6.493 million
Cornerback $7.790 million $6.766 million
Safety $4.490 million $3.984 million
Kicker/Punter $2.078 million $1.926 million
