February 21, 2012

NFL Stars Say Don’t Tag Me Franchise

I bet many of the big name NFL stars with expiring contracts are dreading the beginning of March. That’s when the Franchise tag period begins under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Starting on Monday, March 5, 2012, each NFL team has the option to choose one player with an expiring contract who will receive a one-year deal in lieu of a long-term contract or becoming a free agent.

That sounds like a good thing right? Well, under the new CBA agreement the rules for compensation have changed. No longer will the compensation be based on the average of the five highest-paid players at his position. Franchise players earnings will now be determined by a complex formula that uses various franchise factors over the previous five years. The end result – less compensation for franchise players in 2012.

I wonder if the NFL Players Association took this into consideration, and even informed the players about this stipulation, before agreeing to the new CBA last season.

Regardless, expect at least one potential NFL franchise tag player to consider holding out if he’s locked into a one-year deal.

There’s a lot of different possibilities, and that’s one of the possibilities — not showing up,” said Detroit Lions DE Cliff Avril to the Detroit Free Press. “That’s not the plan, obviously. But there’s a lot of different possibilities, and that’s definitely one of them.”

Some of the big names that could be tagged include the Baltimore Ravens RB Ray Rice, New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees, Chicago Bears RB Matt Forte, Seattle Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch, Cleveland Browns LB D’Qwell Jackson and Arizona Cardinals DE Calais Campbell.

Here is the franchise tag player compensation comparison (2011 vs. 2012)