Franchise Tag: Good or Bad?

[GFL Commissioner]

I don't know about you, but I am always reading about a player that is upset because he is tagged. Isn't that a good thing. The club is designating you with this tag 'franchise'. Your are a corner stone, a vital piece to their franchise. It will cost other clubs 2 first rounders and a lot of money to sign you. They don't want you to leave.

To me, that just shows how important you are to their franchise! It would make me feel wanted personally. Maybe I am just looking at the glass half full instead of half empty.

Sure from a player's stand point, it prevents others from possibly signing you, but you know what, the club is showing you that they want to keep you and not risk losing you. That to me, is good news.

 

[Phicinfan]

To me the all the tags this year makes sense.

Next year is a cap free year. So you tag this year, determine if the money is worth it or not, and then you can work next year in a cap free area...and sign as you please.

I think this is one reason you see more tags...than long term contract signings.

 

[Bayton]

From the players stand point, the tag represents another form of control over them. If a player truely wants to play for another team, the F Tag just about assures that he will remain with the team. Also, a lot of players/agents want to sign new contracts due to the signing bonus. It's instant money and they can't(legal issues aside) take it away from you. Although contracts aren't guaranteed, players don't want to have to put their familys through the drama of possibly moving or not year after year due to the uncertainty of the Tag. Also, a player would want some security that they dont have to play for their contract every year (i.e. entering free agency year after year).

It's all about control and leverage and the players only real leverage is Free Agency. The Tag takes away their only leverage that they have. Players can't do anything to stop the tag unless they don't play which practically never happens. The ego boost of the tag is nice, but a long term contract is better.

 

[Runnik's Hambones]

On one hand yes, it's excellent that the club wants you around and is willing to place that tag on you. Meaning they really want you to stay next year. The issue is that it's only a 1 year deal. Most of the time, players complain because of their contracts because of time. They want long term deals. No one wants a 1 year deal, they want more time than that.

 

[Phicinfan]

Things only get tighter later on.

Reading at NFL.com, if they go two years without cap, the teams get 3 tags instead of one. 1 franchise and 2 transitional tags....Also the years required to get free agency goes to 6 instead of 4. So things will only get tighter for players if they don't agree soon on a new CBA.

 

[GFL Commissioner]

Well if they don't agree...the NFL is going to become a real big mess. If the players and owners were smart, they'd do everything they can to make sure a new agreement is reached. Also, the players need to wake up and see that the salaries can't continue to rise. Eventually you will reach an allowable limit the market can sustain. Fans are spending less because of all the uncertainty of the economy. These players need to be realistic and know that they can be signing contracts that could hurt ticket sales.
I truly believe the owners know this and are on the verge of possibly lowering ticket prices and possibly merchandising.

Just to give you an idea how bad things are getting, in St. Louis, the Blues hockey team has some game tickets at $9 to try and get fans in the seats. I think sports is hit the wall and they need to start rolling back the prices for the next decade or so until people have the expendable cash to afford the luxury of going to a game. Every day and every week, you hear of layoffs in the thousands. If this keeps up going into September, I can honestly say, there will be less people in the stands and bars watching the game because they'll be at home. That cap from last year is still wearable, the latest one is not all that important. A new jersey isn't necessary because you're at home watching the game so you don't need to wear one with everyone else.

Since Obama capped CEO salaries at $500,000, I think it's time he did the same for sports. I think $1,000,000 a season is more than enough for someone to live off of.