Randy isnt going to hit the market. Next year he is the only FA we have WORTHY of the franchise tag. Randy is going to play this year, underpaid, under his current contract. We will slap the franchise tag on him next year and if we can sign him to a long term deal thats friendly, we will do it, if not he will carry the 1 year franchise TE tender. Lets face it, Randy is a top 5 TE in the NFL so therefore slapping the franchise tag on him isnt a bad idea and the pay thats associated with a TE isnt like we are franchising a RB, CB, or QB. Costwise, its actually a good move by us.
Why would we extend him this year when he is still under contact and underpaid and we dont have another player that is going to be a FA next year that is franchise tag worthy. If randy has another monster year this year, then I think they will hammer out an extension. If not, we have something to fall back on. Theres no way Randy sees free agency.