Written by Kevin Seifert at ESPN.com
We’ve laughed. We’ve cried. We’ve argued. And now it’s time to end the comedown from Super Bowl 50. The NFL will turn its full attention this week to 2016 roster building, after all, so we might as well go along with it.
First up: On Tuesday, teams can begin applying the franchise or transition tags. (They will have until 4 p.m. ET on March 1 to make that decision, but a guy can dream, right?)
Below is everything a reasonably well-adjusted person could possibly want to know about the NFL tag system and how tags might affect the 2016 offseason, from projected numbers to likely candidates to historic background data researched at great length by Matt Willis of ESPN Stats & Information. (Great for prop bets!).
There are actually three tags, right?
Ah, yes.
There is an exclusive-rights franchise tag that completely binds the player to his team. His agent is prohibited from seeking an offer sheet.
There is a nonexclusive franchise tag that allows the player to sign an offer sheet with another team. The original team has the right to match the offer or receive two first-round draft picks in compensation if the player leaves.
The transition tag works like the nonexclusive franchise tag, except it only provides the original team the right to match the other team’s offer. If the original team decides not to offer a matching bid, it gets no compensation when the player leaves.
Remind me how the tag values are calculated, please and thank you.
The franchise tag value is the average of the top five salaries at a player’s position, or 120 percent of a player’s previous salary, whichever is greater. The transition tag is worth the average of the top 10 salaries at the player’s position.
To continue reading this article, click here.
