Franchise tag
Outside linebacker Matthew Judon is a prime candidate to receive the franchise tag from the Ravens this offseason.
After watching their top two pass rushers — Za’Darius Smith and Terrell Suggs — leave last offseason, Baltimore has to be experiencing a case of deja vu now with Judon. They have no star pass rushers outside of Judon and really no starter-quality depth behind him. With a more limited salary-cap situation compared to most of the league, that means the Ravens can’t really afford for Judon to hit the free-agent market.
Then again, they couldn’t really afford watching Smith hit the free-agent market last offseason but they still allowed it to happen. Baltimore also likes to allow their top free agents to go into the market to find their value and then try to work out a deal based on that. So there are no guarantees the Ravens will use the franchise tag even if it makes a ton of sense.
DeCosta is surely going to get asked what his plans with the franchise tag are this offseason and it’ll be interesting to see how transparent he is in his answers. Outright saying Baltimore will tag Judon could force him back to the negotiating table and cause other teams to pick up the phone and start making trade offers. Then again, it could also force Judon’s hand and spark talk of a holdout too.