Tuesday marks the first day for NFL teams to use the franchise or transition tags on pending free agent players. Teams have until March 9th to use the tags and lock up their talent on one-year, fully guaranteed contracts.
There will be a few prominent players around the league who get tagged. The Cowboys are expected to use the franchise tag on QB Dak Prescott, the Buccaneers on WR Chris Godwin and the Lions on WR Kenny Golladay. But the Cleveland Browns have no use for the tag in this 2021 offseason.
Cleveland’s most prominent free agents are WR Rashard Higgins, LB B.J. Goodson, CBs Kevin Johnson and Terrance Mitchell, and safety Karl Joseph. While all of those players hold some real value, none are anywhere close to worthy of any tagging.
Pay attention to what the rival Bengals do with their tags. Cincinnati has two prime free agents the Browns should have definite interest in if they become free in CB William Jackson and DE Carl Lawson.