Tuesday was one of those milepost dates on the NFL calendar, the deadline for teams to crush the dreams of their own would-be free agents by designating them franchise players and keeping them off the market.
To refresh: Teams are allowed to designate one of their pending free agent players per year as a franchise player, which allows them to tender that player a one-year contract worth an amount comparable to what the top players at his position earn. Teams don't have to use the franchise tag (or the transition tag, which they can use instead at a lower cost but with fewer protections against another team signing the player), but many do as a means of keeping potential free agents off the market without having to commit to them long-term.
While the franchise tag, like the salary cap itself, is a wage-depressing device masquerading as a tool to promote parity, we've seen more than a few instances in recent years where it actually works in the player's favor.
So each year, when the tagging deadline passes, we like to look at who came out ahead and who might have gotten hurt by the annual process. These are the winners and losers from the franchise tag window:
WINNERS
Nobody won bigger in this year's franchise tag process than Prescott, who emerged from it with a four-year, $160 million contract extension. Faced with the unpleasant prospect of franchising Prescott for the second year a row and guaranteeing him a $37.7 million salary in the year of the shrunken salary cap, Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones basically gave Prescott and agent Todd France everything they wanted. The four-year structure. The record $66 million signing bonus. The record $95 million full guarantee at signing. The $126 million in the first three years. The contractual promise not to use the franchise tag again when the deal is up.
Rejecting the Cowboys' offers last summer and accepting the one-year franchise tag put Prescott in a position of strength, and his new deal reflects that. They'll say it makes him the second-highest paid quarterback behind Patrick Mahomes, but there's a strong case to be made that Prescott's deal is better than Mahomes' deal. Prescott will earn $160 million to Mahomes' $140.4 million the next four years, and in 2025 he'll be a free agent in the middle of what is expected to be a booming market. Mahomes will still have seven years left on his contract with Kansas City.
The new front office and new coaching staff in Detroit are moving on from Golladay, who received neither the franchise tag nor a long-term deal and could become the top wide receiver on the free-agent market once it opens up March 17. Injuries limited Golladay to just 20 catches last season, but he had 11 touchdowns in 2019.
It was something of a surprise last year when the Pats tagged Thuney and kept him in place for the 2020 season. But a second straight franchise at $18 million-plus wasn't going to happen, and Thuney will land in an open market loaded with teams looking for interior offensive line help.
Johnson was not franchise tagged. More importantly, fellow safeties Justin Simmons of Denver, Marcus Maye of the Jets and -- in a surprise move -- Marcus Williams of the Saints were franchised.
This leaves the well-regarded 25-year-old Johnson as the top safety option on the market and should have a positive effect on the amount of interest he receives in free agency.
The Bucs decided to tag wide receiver Chris Godwin, and since the rules say a team can only franchise one player per year, that means no tag for Barrett. He was Tampa Bay's franchise player last season and thus would have made just about $19 million on a 2021 franchise tag.
Tuesday's developments now mean that Barrett is either (a) going to get a long-term deal with the Super Bowl champs or (b) hit the open market as a 28-year-old pass rusher who has picked up 27.5 sacks the past two years.
LOSERS
Robinson is one of the best receivers in the league, but his career has been defined by the fact that he has yet to play with a top-level quarterback. From the Blake Bortles days in Jacksonville to last year's Mitch Trubisky/Nick Foles see-saw in Chicago, Robinson has been fighting for 50-50 balls, and that's no way to make a long-term living.
The Bears franchised Robinson because they believe he'll be an asset to whomever they end up getting at quarterback. But they don't know who that'll be at this point, and their options don't look amazing. Robinson and the Bears talked about a long-term deal last year but didn't make much progress. Maybe the coming months will bring a change and some long-term security.
The Steelers are up against the cap and could watch some valued free agents leave the organization this offseason. They couldn't afford to franchise pass-rusher Bud Dupree for the second year in a row, nor were they able to use the franchise tag on free-agent wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.
There will be big, financially-driven changes in Pittsburgh in 2021, and a lot of pressure on coach Mike Tomlin and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to lift a somewhat depleted group to usual Pittsburgh standards.
The Chargers' decision not to franchise tight end Hunter Henry for the second year in a row likely means he's not returning to the team and will hit the open market (where Bill Belichick and the Patriots could be waiting with a big check).
Henry has had some injury issues, for sure, but he was second on the Chargers in targets and catches last season, and Herbert will have to find someone to make up for that as he heads into a much-anticipated sophomore season in L.A.
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