It’s not much of a surprise, but the Buffalo Bills won’t be among teams that will flex their franchise tag or transition tag this offseason.
According to general manager Brandon Beane himself, he is not considering using it. The executive told the Buffalo News this on Tuesday at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine, but it’s not exactly breaking news. It wasn’t expected that the Bills would do so.
The top-three candidates for such a tag on the Bills roster include defensive tackle Jordan Phillips, defensive end Shaq Lawson and offensive lineman Quinton Spain.
Phillips and Lawson both play in a rotation on Buffalo’s D-line, so the team probably want some kind of deal based on that. In turn, the duo will want starter money themselves, which is fair.
In regard to Lawson, the Bills declined his fifth-year option on his rookie deal last offseason, too. If Buffalo wanted to give him some sort of one-year deal, like the franchise tag, they could’ve just flexed that.
On Spain, the Bills did revamp their offensive line last season, but there’s always the option of replacing him with a better prospect. Spain graded out as the 67th best guard in the NFL via Pro Football Focus this year.
In terms of the Bills’ options there, Cody Ford could kick inside if the Bills want to shuffle things around, or the Bills could use their capital to replace Spain. The Bills have the third-most salary cap space in the NFL ($80 million) and have nine draft picks. That idea applies to the defensive linemen as well.
What seems most likely with this trio is that they will test the open market, then come back to the Bills with an offer of sorts.
Furthermore, tagging a player is expensive. Here’s how much their respective tags would cost the Bills this offseason, which is probably the biggest reason why Buffalo won’t use theirs:
- DT: $15.21M (franchise), $12.38M (transition)
- OL: $14.97M (franchise), $12.87M (transition)
- DE: $17.13M (franchise), $14.36M (transition)
In their history, the players who have received the franchise tag designation from the Bills are: OL John Fina, WR Peerless Price, CB Nate Clements, S Jairus Byrd, and OT Cordy Glenn.
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