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The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/MFreak on 2024-03-24 16:56:25.

It’s a slow offseason Sunday so I felt like sharing an idea I’ve been kicking around for the Franchise Tag to do more of what it is stated to do instead of just being a power tool for owners/GMs to keep player costs down. Yes, I know this won’t likely ever happen, but what else are you reading right now?

What is the Franchise Tag supposed to do

The FT was meant to be a tool to give teams more time to negotiate a long term deal with a player they view as a franchise cornerstone. This is why there is a deadline to get a contract extension done (July).

The Problem

In many cases, the teams themselves have no interest in extending the player longterm and either want one more cost controlled year (A la Saquon Barkley) or they want to trade the player for something, but not during the previous season (A la Brian Burns). Some players the answer is that either of the above are fine (Tee Higgins or L’Jarius Sneed), but the intent was never to reach a long term deal.

The Solution

I think there are 3 things that can be done to better align the tool with the stated purpose and make it harder for teams operate in bad faith.

  1. Tags = Challenge Flag Usage: As in a game where for a team to get a 3rd challenge, they must correctly use their first 2 flags, I propose that a team can only use a Tag in consecutive seasons if they did reach a long term deal with the most recently tagged player. if you fail to do so, you can’t use the Tag the following season.
  2. Tag = No Trade Clause: Any player tagged is given a no trade clause that if they choose they can waive, but this stops the team simply saying “If I’m going to lose them anyway I want to get something for him” and sending him off to the highest bidder. Ideally I would say tagged players can’t be traded, but that seems too far.
  3. Tag Nullifies Comp Picks: A Tagged player who is not extended cannot be used to positively calculate comp picks. In this situation, a player who hits the market a year after being tagged will not garner any value in the form of a compensatory draft pick.

The Verdict

In this proposal, the usage of a Franchise (or Transition) Tag would make it significantly harder for a team to gain value for a player and therefore make it more likely to only be used on player they want to truly extend. What do you all think?