The March 7th franchise deadline has come and gone. Teams are afforded the ability to tag one of their pending free agents, tying them to the franchise for one season at a figure based on the top 5 current salaries at that position. The tag doesn’t guarantee that the player will play for the franchise that tagged them however, as just last season the Green Bay Packers tagged wide receiver Davante Adams before trading him to the Raiders in a massive offseason deal.
With all the speculation behind us, we’ll take a look at the 6 players tagged prior to the 4pm deadline and see what that means for both player and franchise.
New York Giants – Saquon Barkley
Franchise Tag Salary – $10.09 Million
With the New York Giants finalizing a 4 year $160 million contract with quarterback Daniel Jones, they were able to use their franchise tag on resurgent running back Saquon Barkley just moments before the 4pm deadline.
Barkley, who won offensive rookie of the year in 2018, suffered through 3 injury plagued seasons before returning to his pro bowl form in 2022, rushing for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns. The odds of Barkley playing the 2023 season under the franchise tag seem very unlikely, as both player and franchise seem to have a mutual interest in continuing the relationship long term.
Barkley has consistently been a locker room leader during his tenure in New York, and has openly stated that he would love to be a Giant for life. While he may not match the $16 million a year contract that Christian McCaffery signed in 2020 with the Carolina Panthers, he’s almost certain to receive a nice payday from the organization that drafted him and fulfill his dream of ending his career in New York.
Baltimore Ravens – Lamar Jackson, QB
Franchise Tag Salary – $32.416 Million
The standoff between the Baltimore Ravens and former MVP Lamar Jackson will continue, as the Ravens tagged Jackson with the non-exclusive franchise designation. The non-exclusive tag has a lower per season salary, but allows the player to negotiate a contract with other teams.
The Ravens would still maintain the rights to match any contract that Jackson does sign, or take 2 first round picks from the team that signs him. The negotiations between the Ravens and Jackson have reportedly not been going well, as Jackson is reportedly seeking more guaranteed money than Deshaun Watson, who signed a 5 year deal with the Browns with $230 million guaranteed.
While Lamar has dealt with injuries, missing 5 games in each of the past two seasons, he’s clearly the main cog in the wheel that is the Ravens offense, as their points per game was cut in half in the contests he missed in 2022. The Ravens are a stubborn franchise, but often do right by their players, which makes this situation all the more perplexing.
They had no problem making Roquan Smith the highest paid linebacker in league history after only 3 weeks with the team, but don’t seem willing to budge on their stance with Jackson after he’s given them 5 seasons on a low rate rookie deal. Seasons that include being named the unanimous MVP at 23 years old.
After seeing Watson get that much guaranteed money despite his disturbing off field practices and not playing for essentially 2 full campaigns, and Kyler Murray getting $185 in guaranteed money, don’t expect Jackson to fold anytime soon. There are clearly franchises willing to commit a massive amount of cap space for a franchise changing quarterback. It just might not be the Ravens.
Breaking: The Ravens are placing the non-exclusive franchise tag on QB Lamar Jackson, sources told ESPN.
He is now allowed to negotiate with other teams, but the Ravens have the right to match any offer sheet he signs or take two first-round picks in return for him. pic.twitter.com/NopkX0624f
— ESPN (@espn) March 7, 2023
Dallas Cowboys – Tony Pollard, RB
Franchise Tag Salary – $10.09 Million
Jerry Jones’ infatuation with incumbent running back Ezekiel Elliot led the organization to signing him to a massive 6 year $90 million contract in 2019. Tony Pollard has already surpassed Elliot on everyone’s depth chart except Jerry’s, so convincing the hands on owner to tag Pollard is a big win.
Pollard broke out in 2022, surpassing 1,000 yards rushing and scoring 12 total touchdowns, despite rarely lining up for more offensive snaps per game than Elliot. He broke 4 plays of 46 yards or more, and averaged an astounding 5.94 yards per touch last season, ranking 1st amongst running backs with a minimum of 150 touches. He, along with wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, were the engines that made the Dallas offense run, and bringing him back for the 2023 season was essential to keeping the Cowboys ground game relevant. With Elliot already taking up so much cap space, it makes sense for the Cowboys to push a Pollard extension down the road while they try and figure out how to navigate themselves out of the remaining 4 years of Elliot’s deal.
Las Vegas Raiders – Josh Jacobs, RB
Franchise Tag Salary – $10.09 Million
The new regime taking over in Las Vegas opted not to exercise Josh Jacobs’ 5th year option after the 2021 season, and Jacobs responded by leading the NFL in both rushing yards (1,653) and yards from scrimmage(2,053)to go with 12 total touchdowns in 2022. Surprisingly, this wasn’t enough for the Raiders to commit to their 2019 first round pick, as they’re again taking a wait and see approach by tagging him for the 2023 season.
Jacobs was looking for a long term deal this offseason, so operating for the second consecutive season on an expiring contract is less than ideal from his perspective. While head coach Josh McDaniels has utilized a running back by committee approach in his past, Jacobs’ performance this season led to him being the focal point of the offense, opening up the downfield plays on play action for Davante Adams. With the quarterback position in question at this point, there’s a high probability that he’ll be leaned on even more this upcoming season. And without any contract assurances, Jacobs could try and force his way to a team that is more willing to commit to him.
Jacksonville Jaguars – Evan Engram, TE
Franchise Tag Salary – $11.345 Million
After spending 5 inconsistent seasons with the New York Giants, 2017 first round pick Evan Engram set career highs in catches (73) and receiving yards (766) in his first year in Jacksonville. Doug Pederson is excellent at getting his tight ends involved, and utilized Engram more like a wide receiver to create matchup problems throughout the season.
While Engram still struggles with consistency, and probably isn’t as strong of a blocker as Pederson would like from the tight end position, he has potential to be a game breaker, as evidenced in his 162 yard 2 touchdown Week 13 performance. It’s likely that both team and player are looking to work out a long term contract, so tagging Engram allows Jacksonville to take their time and work out a deal that makes sense for both sides without having to worry about other suitors swooping in and courting him out of Duval. It would be surprising if Engram plays this season on the franchise tag.
Washington Commanders – Daron Payne, DT
Franchise Tag Salary – $18.937 Million
Washington’s defense begins at the interior of their defensive line, and tagging Payne for the 2023 season ensures that he and fellow defensive tackle Jonathan Allen are back disrupting opposing offensive linemen next season.
Payne, a 2018 1st round pick, broke out in 2022 with 11.5 sacks, 20 quarterback hits and 18 tackles for loss. Prior to this season, Payne was seen as more of a run stopper, so his ability to burst through the gap along the interior of the offensive line is a welcome addition to his repertoire. Throw in his durability, as he hasn’t missed a game due to injury over the past three seasons, and you have a player that would be well sought after if he were to hit the open market.
Tagging him was a crucial move for the Commanders, as losing him for nothing would have been a big loss. They have now bought themselves some time to work out a long term extension for the 25 year old breakout Pro Bowler.
-Devon Gallant
Twitter: @DevGallant
Photo: Alexander Jonesi. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.