What happened at the franchise tag deadline ?
The franchise tag deadline came and went yesterday afternoon, a big moment prior to each season in the National Football League. Many teams either placed the tag on a player, or elected not to, likely expecting that the player in question will come back on a long term deal. After all the pandemonium, lets take a look at what happened.
To begin, we’ll go over some big names who got tagged and will be forced to stay with their team for at least one more year. These names include Chris Godwin, Allen Robinson, Leonard Williams, Marcus Williams, Marcus Maye and Brandon Scherff. Some of these come as no surprise, as the Bucs would have never let Godwin walk away in free agency, and the Bears want Allen Robinson to be as miserable as possible for as long as they can make him stay in Chicago. But the Saints tagging Marcus Williams came as a surprise to many across the league, as he was scheduled to be a free agent and his play didn’t exactly deserve a franchise tag. Leonard Williams also comes as a surprise as it didn’t seem the Giants would have wanted to tag him instead of extending him to a longer contract, which may come later.
Some names who avoided the franchise tag are Hunter Henry, Kenny Golladay, Haason Reddick, Bud Dupree, Jonnu Smith, Corey Davis, Shaq Barret and Aaron Jones. Most of these came as a surprise, except Henry, as he hadn’t had the kindest words for the organization since the beginning of the offseason, saying that he wanted a good quarterback on his new team, even while the Chargers have Justin Herbert, the reigning OROY. Golladay was expected to remain on the Lions considering he was the teams top receiver the past few seasons. Most Titans fans expected at least one of their two free agent receivers to be tagged, however Jon Robinson opted to tag neither of them. Cardinals fans were wanting Reddick back, presumably on the tag, but Keim had other thoughts. Essentially the Cardinals chose an aging JJ Watt over a younger edge rusher who led the team in sacks last year. And lastly, the Steelers were expected to bring back one of their biggest defensive weapons from last year, Bud Dupree on the tag, especially considering they weren’t able to snag Mr. Watt. All of these players, and more will test free agency and will hopefully find a new home, and might even come back to their original team, hoping to run it back (Shaq Barrett).
Another big piece of news dropped this week pertaining to the tag deadline, Dak Prescott signed a long term deal with the Cowboys. last season Dallas slapped their franchise tag onto Dak after extension discussions fell flat. This year was different though, as the two parties agreed on a 4 year, $160 million deal that includes $126 million guaranteed. Definitely a win for Dak.
In summary, the NFL has been on fire with news this week, with so much happening apart from the franchise tag deadline, so stayed tuned for this weeks Friday Recap, as it will be loaded with news, recapping this insane week.