History Says Patriots Likely to Use Franchise Tag This Offseason
The Patriots haven’t used the franchise tag in either of the last two offseasons, but there’s a good chance that streak will end in the coming weeks. Barring a new, long term deal being hammered out for Darrelle Revis and another couple of long term deals being ironed out, history and common sense indicate one of two soon-to-be free agents will be designated as the Patriots’ “franchise player.’’
In looking at the Patriots’ free agents, the only realistic tag options are safety Devin McCourty and kicker Stephen Gostkowski. However, half of the franchise tags Bill Belichick has used have been on defensive backs and kickers.
In 2002, kicker Adam Vinatieri received the tag and wound up signing a 3-year contract. In 2003, safety Tebucky Jones received the tag and was then traded to New Orleans. In 2005, Vinatieri received the tag again in 2005 and played out the one-year deal before leaving for Indianapolis. Cornerback Asante Samuel received the tag in 2007 and played out the season before leaving for Philadelphia.
The other players that have been tagged by the Patriots under Belichick’s watch: quarterback Matt Cassel in 2009, defensive tackle Vince Wilfork in 2010, offensive guard Logan Mankins in 2011, and wide receiver Wes Welker in 2012.
The franchise tag itself can be confusing because there are actually 3 types of tags that a team can apply to a player. The riskiest (but cheapest) of these tags is the transition tag, under which a player receives a 1-year deal worth the average of the top 10 cap hits at his position. Under this distinction, the tagged player can negotiate with other teams and sign a long term deal elsewhere. The team that applied the tag can then choose to match the contract offer or let the player go for no compensation.
The safest (but most expensive) tag is the exclusive franchise tag, which offers the tagged player a 1-year deal worth the average of the top 5 cap hits at his position or 120% of the player’s current salary, whichever is higher. The exclusive tag makes it so the player cannot negotiate a deal with another team.
The tag that offers more security than the transition tag but less certainty than the exclusive tag is the non-exclusive franchise tag. The non-exclusive tag pays the average of the top 5 cap hits at the given player’s position over the previous 5 seasons, making it slightly cheaper than the exclusive tag due to salary cap inflation and other factors. Players who receive the non-exclusive tag can negotiate with other teams, and the team that applied the tag can choose to match any contract signed with another team or part ways with the tagged player and receive a pair of first round draft picks as compensation from the team that signed the player.
The non-exclusive tag is the most commonly applied tag because teams are rarely willing to surrender the draft picks needed to sign the tagged players.
So who are the Patriots more likely to tag, McCourty or Gostkowski? It appears that McCourty is the higher priority, and if neither player signs a long term deal by the March 2 deadline, the 27-year-old defensive cornerstone will get tagged.
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports called McCourty a “slam dunk’’ candidate to be tagged, writing, “The Patriots made only a limited foray into extending the playmaker in the offseason knowing that they could stomach the franchise tag here if nothing else. Eventually, I see these sides entering into a five-year deal, though that might not come until much later in the spring. Regardless, he isn’t getting away and keeping McCourty and corner Darrelle Revis in that secondary is a top priority for the Super Bowl champs.’’
Assuming he gets the non-exclusive tag, McCourty would be slated to make about $9.6 million in 2015. That would make him the second highest paid safety in the NFL behind Earl Thomas, the Seahawks star who takes in $10 million per year annually.
If McCourty is locked up before March 2 and the Patriots opt to tag Gostkowski, he’d be owed approximately $4.59 million, a 20% increase on his 2014 cap hit. Tagging Gostkowski would make him the highest paid kicker in the NFL.
The earliest a team can apply the tag is February 16, but in most cases the decision comes down to the wire as negotiations stretch all the way until the March deadline. The Patriots are currently projected to be over the salary cap, so locking up Revis long term and lowering his $25 million cap hit is probably a bigger priority than the McCourty or Gostkowski deals.
With three key players to re-sign, the Patriots have a busy offseason ahead of them. Using the franchise tag on McCourty or Gostkowski will allow them to prevent at least one of their big free agents from hitting the open market.
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