The Cleveland Browns still feel strongly that David Njoku can be a superstar tight end. The team designated Njoku as its franchise player Monday, making him the first player to receive the franchise tag for the 2022 NFL season.
NFL teams have until Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET to assign a franchise tag to a player. Individuals who receive the franchise tag will remain under contract with their team at a high salary. Tagged players typically receive a salary equal to the average salary of the top-5 highest-paid players at their position.
Teams can designate whether the player receives an exclusive or non-exclusive franchise tag. A player who receives an exclusive franchise tag can only negotiate a deal with the team that tagged him. Players who receive the non-exclusive franchise tag can negotiate with other teams, but their original team has the opportunity to match an offer the player receives in free agency. If the team doesn’t match, it receives draft-pick compensation for the player…