what is the franchise tag?

Answer 1

It's a designation placed on a player to prevent them from signing to a different team. They are allowed to only franchise one player.

When a player is 'franchised', the team commits to pay that player the average salary of the top 5 players in the league who play the same position for one year if the player signs the tender. Franchised players can sign with other teams, however, a team that signs someone elses franchised player must give them two first round draft picks as compensation (which effectively takes franchised players off the market, but IIRC, Curtis Martin signed with the Jets as a franchise player, and the Jets had to give the Pats 2 first round picks as compensation).

So franchise players often have three choices: 1) sign the tender, then become free agent the following year (providing that they don't franchise you again like what happened to Walter Jones several times), 2) sign a long term deal with your team, or 3) don't sign. Franchised players who don't sign aren't under contract and don't have to report to any team activities (mandatory or otherwise). Players who sign after week 10 get 'service credit' for the year. Teams can't refuse to sign the player after week 10 unless they rescind the franchise tag.

Due to the nature of football (players can be incapacitated to doing any other kind of work after they leave the game), and how NFL contracts are (virtually no contracts are guaranteed, a team can cut a player and they don't owe them a cent more), players tend to want signing bonuses (the only guaranteed money they can get). And no player likes seeing other players that they see as either equal or inferior to themselves making a lot more guaranteed money. And the 'franchise tag' gets the players the average of the top 5 salaries AT THEIR POSITION, and some positions pay a lot less than others (like tight ends or kickers), and some special players that play the lower paid positions are worth significantly more than that to the team. So a team that applies the franchise tag on a player often turns the player against them.

Answer 2

When a player's contract has expired and he refuses to accept a renewal or a new contract, the organization can place a franchise tag on him. After that, the player is not allowed to sign with another team. It will upset the player, especially if they want to leave, but seldom are franchise players holdouts because tags are expensive and the pay is usually enough to entice the player to stay for just 1 more year. That's how long a franchise tag is valid. However, these are becoming more and more rare as free agency continues to advance in the National Football League.

Answer 3

compare it to renting a player and giving that player big money that year but the team has the option the year after to let them go or give them a big contract. So this means a team is saying they in a way do not think you are worth a long-term deal yet and they will see for a year how good you are not willing to trust your abilities long-term. that is why so much franchise tagged players hate it. They could be making big money one year but that does not gurantee they will stay with the team the next three to eight years.

Answer 4

It's basically a one year deal which give the player the average salary of the top 5 most payed players at his position.