I'm looking for an explanation on NFL teams using the "franchise tag". When a player gets the franchise tag.

Question

Here are my assumptions. NFL teams can use 1 franchise tag at each position. They use these to keep players from becoming free-agents towards the end of their contracts.

I'm just looking for an explanation of this whole process. When teams would use them, why they use them, when they can and can't use them, ect.

Answer 1

No, only 1 FT per team (not position)

If they place it on a player that player must sign with them, but they must be payed an average of the top 5 salaries at that position)

ex: QB "A" is a free agent, he has the FT placed on him
the top 5 salaries of all QBs in the league are:
9
7
6
5
3

He must then be payed atleast 6.

OR they must be payed 120% of their current salary, whatever is higher

and the contract is for one year

It would be used when a player is an unrestricted free agent (their old team doens't get the right to match another team's offer) and they really want to keep them (and it looks like they want to leave or could get good $$ elsewhere)

Answer 2

The franchise tag is a great compromise for team owners as well as fans, and should remain a part of the game. It's completely fair. The league decided in the early 90s to allow players to have some control over their destinies through free agency. The compromise: owners are allowed to force a contract on one player per year. A mature player should realize that it's all just a part of the big contract game. First, the player gets a truckload of money, guaranteed, for a full season. Second, there are still options if the player wants to get off the team. If he really hates the situation, he can hold out. He doesn't get paid, but he can force the team to cut him, giving him the free agency he's wanted. Or he can ask for a trade, like Lance Briggs and others. Third, owners often follow up a franchise tag with a long-term offer. A franchise tag eats up a lot of cap space, and they'd much rather be able to give a player a longer contract with a signing bonus that will spread the cap hit over the following years. The owner shouldn't mind if the player asks for a trade, either. All he's doing is making sure one of his best players doesn't walk away for nothing. If he's going to lose a superstar, at least he'll get a draft pick or another player for it. As for the fans, it's really lame when a player who became your hero last year leaves your team in the lurch for more money, and your team suffers. Peter King of Sports Illustrated answered this question a few weeks ago in response to Dwight Freeney's complaints about the franchise tag. He said: "I think, by the way, the one rant that gets so old every year is the one from players about their hatred of the franchise tag. "They've got to get rid of it,'' soon-to-be-franchised defensive end Dwight Freeney of the Colts told me a couple of days after the Super Bowl. "How can you be a free agent when the team doesn't allow you to ever get to the market?'' "Study your history, Dwight. In 1993, you got free agency and a guaranteed cut of the gross revenues -- which your football brethren struck over in a previous football generation -- and in return your leadership gave each team the freedom to keep its best player for the average of the top five salaries at his position. Hardly a hardship. What the best players miss in this system --but not often -- is a huge signing bonus, but that's a small price to pay for a system that has worked this well for players and owners for 14 years."

Answer 3

The franchise tag is a National Football League designation that is used in order to retain an unrestricted free agent. There are two types of franchise tag designations: the exclusive rights franchise tag, and non-exclusive rights franchise tag:

An "exclusive" franchise player must be offered a one-year contract for an amount equal to or greater than the average of the top five salaries at the player's position as of a date in April of the "current" year in which the tag will apply, or 120 percent of the player's previous year's salary, whichever is greater. Exclusive franchise players cannot negotiate with other teams.
A "non-exclusive" franchise player must be offered a one-year contract for an amount equal to or greater than the average of the top five salaries at the player's position in the previous year, or 120 percent of the player's previous year's salary, whichever is greater. A non-exclusive franchise player may negotiate with other NFL teams, but if he signs an offer sheet from another team, the original team has a right to match the terms of that offer, or if it does not match the offer and thus loses the player, to receive two first-round draft picks as compensation.
Usually designated for players of great skill or of high importance to the team, a franchise tag allows a team's managers the privilege of strategically retaining valuable free-agent players while seeking talent through the NFL draft or other acquisitions without exceeding the League's salary cap.

A team may only give one player a franchise tag each year. It is the team's choice whether it is exclusive or non-exclusive. While it may seem that a team would always choose the exclusive option, there are two reasons a team might prefer the non-exclusive option instead. The first is that the salary is based on the top 5 salaries of the previous year instead of the current year, which could be a significant difference. The second reason is that a team may want the opportunity for two first-round draft picks.

Answer 4

i don't know but GO COLTS!!