The franchise tag deadline came and went Tuesday afternoon, and once again a large list of extremely talented young football players are unable to maximize their value on the open market because of an archaic roster rule designed to restrict player movement. I “like” the franchise tag from an offseason entertainment perspective, but it probably should have been collectively bargained out of existence years ago.
One thing I will note: the tag isn’t as bad as it was even just 10 years ago, because salaries are jacked up (some of these tags are massive numbers) and modern medicine means the risk of playing a season on a single-year, fully-guaranteed contract is much, much lower. For a guy like Brian Burns, for instance, he’s 24 years old. Play the season on the tag, light it up and go get really, really rich in full-blown free agency.
But the tag is still a slap in the face to players. Teams are essentially saying “we really really kind of like you” and very much not “we love you.” There’s a reason the tag is likened to a promise ring. No one wants a promise ring.
Anyway, let’s look at the nine guys who got stuck on the bad end of a game of tag on Tuesday afternoon.
Tag price: $22.1 million
Madubuike exploded on the scene this year in former DC Mike MacDonald defense, compiling 13 sacks, easily more than his previous four seasons combined. Due to a dumb setup with the CBA, edge players who classify as outside linebackers get linebacker tags, and defensive ends are tagged for less than defensive tackles, so this is a pretty stout number. The Ravens had no…
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