Breaking Down New York Jets’ Franchise Tag Decisions

February 19, 2014   ·   Ryan Alfieri   ·   Jump to comments

Almost by accident, the franchise tag has become one of the most powerful contractual weapons in sports. The franchise tag was originally introduced as a way to keep true "franchise" players in the same uniform for the long term, preventing players such as Brett Favre or Tom Brady from changing teams every four or five years.
In short, the franchise tag can be used once a year on any pending unrestricted free agent. If tagged, the pending free agent will be essentially forced to sign a one-year, fully guaranteed contract that equates to the average of the top-five salaries at the player's position.
Over time, the franchise tag became more than just a last-resort tool to keep a player around for one more year. It gives clubs a tremendous amount of leverage and flexibility in terms of how they handle their pending free agents. This leverage has rippling effects on the open market—after all, if the top players don't get the contracts they earn on time, neither will the sec...

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