The franchise tag essentially delays free agency for a player for a season by giving him one-year contract that guarantees a predetermined salary based on the average of the top five salaries at the player’s position.
There are three types of tags:
- Exclusive – The player is bound to his team and cannot negotiate with others during free agency.
- Non-exclusive – The player is allowed to negotiate elsewhere, and if a competing team makes an offer, the original team the right to match it. If it declines to match the offer, it gets two first-round picks as compensation.
- Transition – The player's contract is the average of the top 10 salaries at his position and he is free to negotiate elsewhere, however if the original team fails to match an offer, it receives no compensation.
The Bengals haven’t used the franchise tag since 2013 when they placed on it on defensive end Michael Johnson.
In fact, since 2006, they have exercised the option only five times (kicker Mike Nugent, 2012; kicker Shayne Graham, 2010; tackle Stacey Andrews, 2009; defensive end Justin Smith, 2007).
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The best candidate for tagging this year is right guard Kevin Zeitler, but the team’s philosophy on the tag and the way the process is structured, with offensive lineman thrown into one group rather than separated by positions, make the move unlikely.
The league has yet to announce official tag numbers, but the salary for an offensive lineman is estimated to be around $14.4 million.
That would be $1.2 million more than the highest-paid guard in the league, Oakland’s Kelchi Osemele, is set to make in 2017, and $3.3 more than the next highest, Pittsburgh’s David DeCastro, who was and signed a five-year, $50 million prior to the start of last season and was drafted three picks ahead of Zeitler in 2012.
It’s even more unlikely the Bengals would use the tag on their next three most important free agents – tackle Andrew Whitworth, cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick and wide receiver Brandon LaFell.
While an argument can be made that Zeitler is among the top five guards in the league, the same cannot be said of Kirkpatrick and LaFell. The estimated tag number for cornerbacks is $14.3 million, and it’s $15.8 million for receivers.
And while Whitworth is playing at a top-five level, it doesn’t make sense to give a 35-year-old top-five money.
There are two other dates to keep in mind when it comes to the franchise tag. The first is March 1, which is the deadline for teams to use it. The other is July 15, the deadline for the team to negotiate a long-term contract with the player, otherwise he will play the 2017 season under the tag and can’t sign a long-term deal with his current team, or any other, until the following March.
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