Today is the day that NFL teams can start giving players the franchise tag but don’t look for any word of the tag being used by the Redskins.
Last year, they used the tag on tight end Fred Davis. For a while it looked like he might be a bargain at $5.4 million for the season as he was leading the team in receiving through six games. But in Week 7 he suffered a torn Achilles tendon from which he is still recovering. It would cost the Redskins about $6.5 million to reapply the tag to him and even if he was healthy it would be a tough call for the Redskins to make that move. The fact that they are about $4 million over their salary cap number makes not tagging Davis again a no-brainer.
The only other unrestricted free agent the Redskins might consider tagging is punter Sav Rocca. But they could move on from Rocca or if they do sign him they might bring in some competition for him. He’s 39 and recovering from knee surgery. The $2.9 million salary that comes with the tag would immediately become guaranteed as soon as Rocca signed the contract so they won’t franchise him.
There are some unrestricted free agents they would like to keep but it would be cost prohibitive to tag linebacker Lorenzo Alexander at $9.44 million or guard Kory Lichtensteiger at $9.66 million.
The Redskins will be paying attention to what happens around the league in regards to the franchise tag. Some players they might consider targeting in free agency such as tight end Jared Cook and safety Jairus Byrd could get tagged by their teams.
Teams can tag player through March 4.
Comments