JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Tuesday is a big date on the calendar for NFL teams and especially for the Jaguars.
That’s the first day teams can slap the franchise or transition tag on players to keep them from hitting the free agent market. For Jacksonville, there are two candidates who are in play for the tag, edge Josh Allen and receiver Calvin Ridley.
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So, what exactly are the tags and the differences between them? The franchise tag is more notable and used frequently. The transition tag is lesser used, but it gives players the right to negotiate contracts with other teams.
That transition-tagged player can sign an offer sheet with a new team, but his previous team has the right to match. If the original team elects not to sign, the player can go to the new team, with that team sending two first-round picks back as compensation. That’s the major reason we don’t see the transition tag often. Teams have to pay a top of the market contract and trade two first rounders. That’s a lot.
The franchise tag is more common and there are two types of franchise tags, the exclusive and nonexclusive tag. The exclusive franchise tag means players are locked into a salary of the average of the top-five players at their position in the league. The team controls all aspects of that. In the nonexclusive tag, players get a contract that totals 120% of their previous year’s salary or no less than the average of the top-five cap hits of the players at that position, whichever is greater.
Last year, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was given the nonexclusive tag, which was worth just over $32 million. The franchise tag number last year for Jackson would have been $45 million, so teams do save a significant margin between the exclusive and nonexclusive tags. The tradeoff comes in the form of leverage. Nonexclusive tags allow players to negotiate with other teams. If they sign an offer sheet, their original team has five days to match. If the original team doesn’t match the offer then the team that signs the player has to send two first-round draft picks that way.
Two players for Jacksonville could be tag candidates, Allen and Ridley. Allen is more likely to be tagged than Ridley for a couple reasons. The Jaguars currently owe the Falcons a third-round draft pick that can jump to a second-round pick if Jacksonville re-signs Ridley before free agency begins. Obviously, that’s not going to happen. If Ridley return to the Jaguars, he’ll do it when free agency opens March 12. That could bear some risk for the Jaguars since it would allow Ridley and his agent to explore deals with other teams.
The franchise tag number hasn’t been set as of yet, but the projected tag for a linebacker is $22.7 million. If a team tags a player and they can’t come to an agreement on an extension, then that player can sign his franchise tag tender and play that season under that tag number. Players and agents prefer longer-term contracts over franchise deals because there is, you guessed it, more money in longer contracts.
Allen is more likely to get tagged than Ridley. Assuming he’s tagged on Tuesday, then the Jaguars and Allen’s representation would have until July 15 to come to an agreement on a new contract. If he doesn’t sign by that date, then they wouldn’t be able to work on another contract until next offseason. Allen’s deal stands to be a little more challenging to get done than Ridley’s deal. Allen, who set the Jaguars single-season record in sacks (17.5) is one of the top free agents available. His business folks will want close to — if not the very peak — top-of-the-market money.
So, expect Allen to get the franchise tag and Ridley to re-sign once the free agency period opens. But the one thing to pay attention to is what type of vibes surface from the Allen camp these next couple weeks. The business aspect is never the fun part. Feelings get hurt and trade requests are typically thrown out there during these times.