RSS
Home
Texans tag Robinson hours before deadline. Now what?
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
The Texans announced that they have used their franchise tag on Dunta Robinson, who was one of a record 14 NFL players to receive the tag this season.
Today was the deadline for teams to use the franchise tag on select players whose contracts expire at the end of the 2008 league year - which this year is February 26.
Players, like Robinson, with four or more accrued seasons and whose contracts expire after the 2008 season, become unrestricted free agents on February 27 if not tagged or re-signed.
One minor clarification to a lot of things I'm reading. The franchise tag isn't a contract. It's a tender (or offer).
Robinson still has to sign it in order for it to be considered a contract, but there's no reason to believe he won't.
Franchise tender amounts have skyrocketed in recent years and even though players often have expressed disappointment in the past when tagged, Robinson's worst case scenario this season - if he signs the tender - is a guaranteed one-year salary of $9.96 million.
That should be the spoon full of sugar that Dunta needs to ease the pain he's feeling from this alleged betrayal.
As far as Robinson being "miffed" about all this, I think something is getting lost in translation. Why would the Texans ever tell Robinson that they wouldn't be using the tag? It was their most valuable bargaining chip during the contract negotiations to this point. It doesn't make sense.
I wonder if something got lost in translation between the Texans and Robinson's agent on this one. I can see the Texans telling the agent that they would "prefer not to" use the tag, and then the agent passing that information on to Robinson in a way that was skewed, but from a negotating standpoint it makes no sense to tell the other side that you've not going to use the tag. Then what's the other side's incentive to negotiate down? Home town discount?
If Robinson and his agent knew that 1) the Texans wanted Robinson back, and 2) they were far apart in negotiations, then they are naive if they really thought the tag wouldn't be in play. It's the team's only bargaining chip. Did they think the Texans were going to allow Robinson to walk without any compensation?
We've covered this ad nauseam (read through the litany of articles below) but the Texans tag on Robinson confirms two things: a) the Texans wanted him back .. which means they're feeling pretty good about his recovery, and b) they are still far apart in their negotiations.
This gives both sides some time to breathe. The Texans have until July 15 to sign Robinson to a long term deal. If after that date, the two sides still can't agree on a long term deal, the only option is a one year deal.
Based on Robinson's comments after learning of the tag, I'd say that's the most likely scenario.
If Robinson accepts the franchise tender it is fully guaranteed.
The player is not required to sign the tender, although in Robinson's case, I can't think of a reason why he would turn down 17 weekly checks worth $585,882 each.
If a player does not sign his franchise tender by Week 10 of the season, then the player is prohibited from playing in that season.
In that extreme case - I don't know if its ever happened - the team can franchise the player again the following season. If it chooses not to do so, only then does the player become an unrestricted free agent.
The chances of another team making a run at Robinson are now greatly reduced considering the high compensation involved (a big contract plus two 1st round draft choices).
I think this was a good move by the Texans since Dunta is an important piece of the defense.
If he returns to his 2007 pre-injury form this season, Robinson, who turns 27 in April, will still have enough time left to get that Chris Gamble-like contract that he wants.
READ MORE ON DUNTA ROBINSON HERE:
- Dunta watch: Expect more franchise tags on players this week
- Hayden's new deal another benchmark for Texans Robinson
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
