The Franchise Tag Must Die

Honestly, the Franchise Tag is starting to tear teams apart. February marked the beginning of Franchise Tagging Season, and even though no more players are being tagged, the NFL is still feeling the effects of disgruntled tagees. For more information about what the Franchise Tag is, click here.

There is good argument that the Franchise Tag is antiquated and should be abolished, but I blame a lot of tagee unhappiness on Nate Clements and Todd France. If you remember, back in the beginning of March, France got his client (Clements) an 8-year $80 million deal [In-Depth Look At The Nate Clements Deal]. Clements has never been in the playoffs or been invited to the Pro Bowl, but France knew that he could get good money for his client. He made sure that Clements’ former Franchise Tag with the Bills was only valid for one year, thereby allowing the 49ers to shell out massive amounts of money to Clements this year.

What is another (better) player supposed to think when he is being Franchised by a team for less money and can do practically nothing about it? Lance Briggs was extremely upset by the Bears tagging him and still demands a trade [The End Of The Franchise?].

Who is the newest member of the Franchise Tag Fan Club Bashers? Asante Samuel of the team that just acquired Randy Moss, formerly known as the Patriots. He plans on sitting out the first 10 weeks of the regular season and will not report to training camp [Disgruntled Patriots corner Samuel sits out minicamp].  Fully expect Samuel to sit out at least until July 15th, when he can sign only a one-year deal and cannot have his contract extended until the regular season ends. 

Here we see a repeat of the Nate Clements deal, but is this good for the NFL?  Definitely not, and this is something that you can expect to see in the future unless the Franchise Tag is altered or done away with.

-Darren Heitner