Just eight teams use franchise tag, down from 21 a season ago

Branden Albert didn't even know he'd been tagged by the Chiefs until after 4 PM. That is because the team first had to work out a deal with wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, who would have been tagged otherwise. Bowe's contract actually saved the team money to afford Albert's tag.The Dallas Cowboys managed to tag olb/de Anthony Spencer, but it took a lot of contract restructures and releases of other players to happen. It's quite a feat that the Cowboys even managed to apply the tag, given how far over the cap they already were. But Spencer will be a critical piece on their transformation to a 4-3 on defense in 2013.View the list »
The reality is that, which the only marginal increase in salary cap, more and more teams are becoming impacted by its financial limitations. It seems that every season there is a new highest paid player at a position. Individual player salaries at the top level are going up, and thus franchise tenders are going up at a rate greater than the salary cap. The franchise tag places a huge financial burden on the team to the point where, unless you are franchising a punter (as the Colts did), the only teams that can really afford to tag one of their players are the ones that have tens of millions in cap space, such as the Bengals.

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With only two 11th hour franchise tags being administered near the 4 PM deadline yesterday afternoon, a total of just eight teams ultimately utilized their franchise tag in 2013. This is a steep decline from the number of just a season ago, when 21 out of the 32 teams in the league opted to use the franchise tag on one of their players.

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The reasons for this sharp drop are likely manifold. First, the crop of players eligible to be franchised this offseason was less notable than from a season ago. Additionally, some players, such as Dwayne Bowe and Joe Flacco, were able to work out deals before the tag deadline.

There is likely an even bigger reason for the decline, however. So why have so few teams used the franchise tag, and which teams were able to do so before the deadline? The list has the answers.

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View the list
  • The reality is that, which the only marginal increase in salary cap, more and more teams are becoming impacted by its financial limitations. It seems that every season there is a new highest paid player at a position. Individual player salaries at the top level are going up, and thus franchise tenders are going up at a rate greater than the salary cap. The franchise tag places a huge financial burden on the team to the point where, unless you are franchising a punter (as the Colts did), the only teams that can really afford to tag one of their players are the ones that have tens of millions in cap space, such as the Bengals.
  • The Dallas Cowboys managed to tag olb/de Anthony Spencer, but it took a lot of contract restructures and releases of other players to happen. It's quite a feat that the Cowboys even managed to apply the tag, given how far over the cap they already were. But Spencer will be a critical piece on their transformation to a 4-3 on defense in 2013.
  • Branden Albert didn't even know he'd been tagged by the Chiefs until after 4 PM. That is because the team first had to work out a deal with wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, who would have been tagged otherwise. Bowe's contract actually saved the team money to afford Albert's tag.
View the list

, Newark Football Examiner

Having grown up in New Jersey, Matt has naturally been around Giants and Jets football his entire life. But at a young age, he also found an affinity for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and as he got older, his fondness for the game itself grew beyond rooting for certain teams. Although the NFL season...

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