Tag: franchise tag

Steelers QB Russell Wilson named candidate for $42M franchise tag

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson has been named as a candidate for the NFL’s $42 million franchise tag in 2025.

In a surprising turn for the Pittsburgh Steelers, veteran quarterback Russell Wilson has made such a strong impact this season that he’s already being discussed as a potential candidate for the franchise tag in 2025.

Despite having only taken 212 snaps with the team, Wilson’s leadership, precision, and playmaking ability have impressed Steelers’ coaches and fans alike. As the franchise tag period opens in February, Pittsburgh could consider placing a $42 million tag on Wilson to ensure stability at the quarterback position for another year.

Wilson’s rapid integration into the offense has been notable, elevating the Steelers’ passing game and providing a reliable option in high-pressure moments. His performances have revitalized the Steelers’ offense and kept the team competitive in the AFC North. With his experience and poise, Wilson has quickly become an essential part of Pittsburgh’s playoff push.

A $42 million franchise tag would be a significant investment, especially for a player acquired at the tail-end of his career. Yet, with Wilson’s proven ability to step up and deliver, the Steelers may see this as a worthwhile expenditure to solidify their immediate future. After all, Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt deserve bling. For now, though, Pittsburgh’s front office has a few months to weigh their options, but Wilson’s case for retention grows stronger with each snap.


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Key dates for 2025 NFL season that could have big impact on 49ers

The NFL announced a handful of key dates that could be important for the 49ers next offseason.

The NFL on Thursday released a handful of key dates for the 2025 season. NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero provided the dates which were distributed to teams in a memo issued by the league. A couple of the events are of particular interest to the 49ers.

First on the list is the franchise/transition tag window which is open Feb. 18 to Mar. 4, 2025.

Generally the tag window isn’t of much import to the 49ers. They’ve only tagged kicker Robbie Gould during the Kyle Shanahan-John Lynch tenure. Instead they’ll let a player walk or get an extension done before it reaches the franchise tag stage.

That could change if they’re unable to get a long-term deal done with wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. Then they may have Aiyuk play out his rookie deal before putting the franchise tag on him for the 2025 season. He’s likely the only player due to hit free agency next year that the 49ers would want back on the one-year, fully-guaranteed franchise tag. Safety Talanoa Hufanga, cornerback Deommodore Lenoir and left guard Aaron Banks could also be in that mix though.

Next on the list of dates is the new league year, which officially opens Mar. 12, 2025. That would be the day free agents officially hit the open market, although the legal negotiating window will open a couple days before that which means soon-to-be free agents are allowed to negotiate with other clubs. Ideally the 49ers would have extensions done before the new league year opens, but this will be the deadline they’re operating under to get any of those deals done.

Finally, Pelissero noted the NFL draft will take place in Green Bay, Wisc. from April 24-26 of next year.

Of course, all of this is way down the road. The 49ers haven’t even reported to training camp yet so next offseason feels like forever away. However, given the import of some of the moves San Francisco will be making over the next couple seasons, those dates are should get circled on a calendar as the team prepares for a tough upcoming offseason.

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ESPN’s Adam Schefter: “Colts and Chiefs have not discussed a deal for L’Jarius Sneed”

ESPN’s Adam Schefter told Pat McAfee that the #Colts and #Chiefs have not discussed a deal for star DB L’Jarius Sneed

The trade rumors between the Kansas City Chiefs and L’Jarius Sneed gained plenty of steam over the weekend. Many critics believed a deal could be completed soon, and they questioned the details surrounding the alleged conversations.

During his Monday appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, ESPN’s Adam Schefter gave insider comments on the rumored trade scenario.

“The Chiefs have no problems right now playing with him on that tag,” Schefter explained. “He wants a long-term deal. So it’s up to him and his agent to see if they can help broker a deal and structure something to get him the long-term security he wants.

“But no, nothing right now has gotten done. The Colts are not expected to be in on him. The Colts and Chiefs have not discussed a deal for L’Jarius Sneed, at least to date. Could that change? You never know. You never know, but nothing, no conversation between those two teams. And that’s where we’re at right now.”

The Colts and Chiefs have been linked regarding Sneed for a while, and even if a deal isn’t being officially worked on, it is still early in the offseason. Schefter made a notable statement about the Chiefs’ willingness to safely move forward with Sneed on a franchise tag in 2024.

Colts free agency: Salary cap update after franchise tag

Where the Colts stand in salary cap space after using the franchise tag.

The Indianapolis Colts used the non-exclusive franchise tag on wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. on Tuesday, which had a large impact on the team’s salary-cap space.

Fortunately for the Colts, they entered the offseason working with an abundance of cap space. Applying the franchise tag, which costs $21.8 million, also gives them the chance to work out a long-term deal, which could save them cap space depending on the structure.

After applying the one-year, fully guaranteed tender, the Colts now have roughly $49.2 million in cap space and just over $45 million in effective cap space, per Over The Cap.

Those figures rank seventh and sixth, respectively, among teams in the NFL.

Pittman won’t need to sign his franchise tender until the middle of July so they have time to wrinkle out the details on a long-term contract.

With that order of business on the shelf for now, the Colts now turn their focus to re-signing some of their big-name free agents like defensive tackle Grover Stewart and cornerback Kenny Moore II. Both players should have extremely strong markets.

We’ll see what’s in store for the Colts leading up to the open negotiating period, which arrives Monday. But they should have plenty of cap space to work with on the open market.

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Broncos won’t use franchise tag in 2024

The Broncos did not use a franchise tag in 2024. Free agency is one week away.

As expected, the Denver Broncos will not use a franchise tag in 2024.

The deadline passed on Tuesday without the Broncos using the one-year tag. In the past, Denver has used a franchise tag eight times, most recently on safety Justin Simmons in 2020 and 2021 (before an extension).

Eight teams used the tag this year and a ninth team used a transition tag.

Denver had no obvious candidates for the tag this year due to its price. The team’s most notable in-house free agents this offseason are center Lloyd Cushenberry, linebacker Josey Jewell, safety P.J. Locke, kicker Wil Lutz and tight end Adam Trautman.

The cost of tagging a linebacker ($22,748,000), safety ($16,224,000), tight end ($12,027,000), offensive lineman ($19,885,000) or even a kicker ($5,670,000) would be much higher than what it would cost to give those players extensions.

So the Broncos are set to go into free agency with 16 in-house free agents scheduled to hit the open market. Denver needs to give those players extension by Monday if they don’t want them to negotiate with other teams.

See the NFL players that were tagged below.

2024 FRANCHISE PLAYERS

Club      Player      Position
Baltimore Ravens      Justin Madubuike      DT
Carolina Panthers      Brian Burns      LB
Chicago Bears      Jaylon Johnson      CB
Cincinnati Bengals      Tee Higgins      WR
Indianapolis Colts      Michael Pittman      WR
Jacksonville Jaguars      Josh Allen      LB
Kansas City Chiefs      L’Jarius Sneed      CB
Tampa Bay Buccaneers      Antoine Winfield      S

2024 TRANSITION PLAYERS

Club      Player      Position
New England Patriots       Kyle Dugger      S

The NFL’s negotiating window will open on March 11. The new league year (and official start of NFL free agency) begins on March 13.

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Commanders avoid a franchise tag blunder

No franchise tag this year for Washington, and that’s a good thing.

The 2024 offseason franchise/transition tag deadlines passed at 4 p.m. Tuesday with most of the NFL, including the Commanders, taking a pass this year.

The Commanders did not tag any of their pending free agents. Only eight of the 32 teams used a tag.

Consequently, these eight players will not be able to negotiate with other clubs when free agency begins. Meanwhile, all of the Commanders’ pending free agents will be free to negotiate with other teams beginning March 11, the first day of the legal tampering period.

Some older Washington fans may recall the Washington Redskins’ first use of the franchise tag on one of their unrestricted free agents. It occurred in 1993 — the year the tag was introduced — when GM Charley Casserly placed the tag on linebacker Wilber Marshall.

Marshall had been an All-American at the University of Florida, and an All-Pro with the Chicago Bears, before he joined Washington in 1988. Marshall had big seasons for Washington in 1991 and 1992 and wanted to test the free agent market. Casserly applied the franchise tag. Marshall was upset, took the team to court and was subsequently traded to the Houston Oilers.

Who could forget Bruce Allen and former owner Daniel Snyder mishandling Kirk Cousins’ contract? Scot McCloughan urged Allen and Snyder in 2015 to extend Cousins because he was developing into a fine quarterback. Sure enough, Cousins led the Redskins to winning seasons in 2015 (9-7) and 2016 (8-7-1), but Allen and Snyder felt they knew best and never extended Cousins. He gambled on himself by playing on consecutive franchise tags and has made big money with the Vikings.

Some Washington fans never appreciated Cousins and still refer to him as a loser and a choker. However, the fact remains that Washington has not had a winning season since 2016.

Did Kam Curl say goodbye to the Commanders?

Once the franchise tag deadline passed, the Washington safety appeared to say goodbye.

When the Washington Commanders selected safety Kam Curl in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL draft, he was initially considered an afterthought. That’s often the case with seventh-round picks.

That was until training camp. It was clear early in training camp that Curl was a keeper. The 6-foot-2 rookie would play all 16 games for Washington, starting 11 and finishing with three interceptions, including a touchdown.

The arrow was pointing up for Curl. Washington found a seventh-round gem in the former Arkansas Razorback.

Curl followed up his next season by playing all but one game and making 14 starts. Curl’s impact was particularly felt in 2022 when he missed five games that season.

Former coach Ron Rivera and ex-defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio always stressed how important Curl was to the team. If Rivera had his way, he would’ve extended Curl after last season, but with the team for sale, those types of moves were on the backburner. Then, Josh Harris took over in July, and it appeared any lucrative extensions were shelved until after the 2023 season.

The 2023 season is over, and Curl is a free agent. And the Commanders will not be placing the dreaded franchise tag on Curl, either. The deadline passed on Tuesday, and Washington tagged no one.

Curiously, Curl took to X — formerly known as Twitter — shortly after the franchise tag deadline passed and posted the following message — or emoji.

Is that Curl saying goodbye to Washington? Or is that an emotional tweet?

It’s hard to tell. We know the Commanders would like to have Curl back, but the days of overvaluing their own are over under Adam Peters. That’s not a knock on Curl. He’s earned the right to be back. But Peters has an idea of what he is willing to pay, Curl’s value, and the players he already has on the roster.

What does that mean?

We’ll see next week.

The free-agent safety market is robust, even with tags applied to some of the better ones. Still, Curl will have a market. He is a good player. Will that market lead him back to Washington?

 

No franchise tagged players for the Steelers

The NFL franchise tag deadline has come and gone and, as expected, the Steelers didn’t use the tag on any of their players.

The NFL franchise tag deadline has come and gone, and, as expected, the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t use the tag on any of their players.

The Steelers don’t have any big-name free agents, but a player they could’ve considered tagging is Kwon Alexander.

However, with the linebacker tag tender valued just north of $24 million, it would’ve been a massive overpayment for the nine-year veteran.

Pittsburgh overhauled its inside linebacker corp ahead of the 2023 season, but, unfortunately, it was wiped out due to injury.

Alexander put on a solid 2023 season with 41 tackles, five tackles for loss, an interception, forced fumble, sack and two quarterback hits in nine games.

But in Pittsburgh’s Week 10 win over the Green Bay Packers, Alexander went down with a torn Achilles and was placed on injured reserve.

Re-signing Alexander would be a smart move, as he’s proved to be a productive member of the defense when healthy. Considering the massive deals for T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward and Minkah Fitzpatrick, inking him to a team-friendly contract would be an ideal scenario.

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Packers pass on franchise tag, but 9 other players tagged around NFL

The Packers pass on the franchise tag, but nine other players were tagged across the NFL. What does it all mean?

The Green Bay Packers did not use the franchise tag by Tuesday’s deadline, as expected. The team has 12 unrestricted free agents entering the new league year but zero legitimate options for the franchise tag.

The Packers last used the tag on receiver Davante Adams, who was then traded to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022. The team’s complete history with the tag can be viewed here.

Nine players with expiring contracts did receive tags around the NFL before the deadline.

Here are all the players who were tagged Tuesday (or before):

Edge rusher Josh Allen, Jacksonville Jaguars
Edge rusher Brian Burns, Carolina Panthers
Safety Antoine Winfield Jr., Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Cornerback Jaylon Johnson, Chicago Bears
Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, Kansas City Chiefs
Wide receiver Michael Pittman, Indianapolis Colts
Defensive tackle Justin Madubuike, Baltimore Ravens
Wide receiver Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
Safety Kyle Dugger, New England Patriots (transition tag)

The Packers, who might be active in free agency, can negotiate with all nine players if they wish. But there is a cost. The eight players not counting Dugger are on the non-exclusive tag, which means the tagging team can either match an offer or receive two first-round picks in return from the offering team — creating a huge barrier.

More importantly, who wasn’t tagged?

New York Giants safety Xavier McKinney, one of the best safeties in football a year ago, didn’t receive a tag. He’ll be a free agent and a possible target for the Packers, who desperately need an impact safety. McKinney is a perfect fit for what Jeff Hafley wants in a post safety, and his all-around ability — both against the run and pass — could help transform the defense in Year 1 of the Hafley era. But he’ll have plenty of suitors and won’t be cheap.

The Giants also passed on the tag for running back Saquon Barkley, and the Miami Dolphins did not use the tag on defensive tackle Christian Wilkins. The same goes for Josh Jacobs and the Raiders.

PFF’s full free agent rankings — post tag deadline — can be found here.

Patriots OL Mike Onwenu set to be free agent with no franchise tag in place

The franchise deadline has come and gone, and Mike Onwenu is set to test the free agent market

The franchise tag deadline has come and gone with the New England Patriots opting to use the transition tag on safety Kyle Dugger. That move alone knocked offensive lineman Mike Onwenu out of the running for the franchise tag.

So, what does it all mean for the Patriots?

The transition tag will allow the Patriots an opportunity to match any outside offers for Dugger, who has stepped up as a leader in the defensive backfield after Devin McCourty retired. However, they’re risking losing Onwenu on the open market without a tag in place.

The veteran offensive lineman showed off his versatility last season when working in at both right tackle and guard. Tackle is arguably the biggest trouble spot on the Patriots’ roster, and with Trent Brown also set to be a free agent, the team could lose both of its starters on the open market.

It’s a scary situation for a team expected to select a rookie quarterback at No. 3 overall in the 2024 NFL draft.

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