Patriots Tag Joe Thuney
The Patriots will use the franchise tag on offensive lineman Joe Thuney, as agent Mike McCartney tweets. It’s a stunning move – few expected the Patriots to cuff Thuney given their tight cap situation and reluctance to spend on their own free agents.
The tag does not guarantee that the Patriots will keep Thuney. Instead, this could be step one towards a tag-and-trade scenario. The left guard is a four-year starter who has never missed a game. He also just turned 27 in November – other clubs would love to have an elite interior protector in his prime.
It’s important to note that the franchise tag is the same for all offensive linemen, meaning that Thuney is now slated to make $14.8MM for the 2020 season. That’s the kind of compensation that goes to top offensive tackles. Then again, the guard market is rapidly rising – former Giants draft bust Ereck Flowers, for example, could be in line for an incomprehensibly lucrative pay day. Better options, like Redskins standout Brandon Scherff, have already been spoken for.
Meanwhile, the Patriots are working to keep franchise star Tom Brady in New England. The Titans, thought to be one of his biggest potential suitors, exited the sweepstakes by extending Ryan Tannehill. The Niners, meanwhile, are likely to stand pat with his one-time backup Jimmy Garoppolo.
Cardinals Use Transition Tag On Kenyan Drake
With less than an hour before the franchise-transition tag deadline, we have our first transition tag of this year’s cycle. The Cardinals will use the transition tag on Kenyan Drake, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
The NFL released its tag numbers, and the Cardinals will make by far the lowest payment of the teams that used them this year. The Drake transition tag will cost just $8.5MM. Arizona still has David Johnson on its roster on a $13MM-AAV deal. While Drake loomed as a possible tag candidate, the Cards are set to devote extensive funds to their running back spot.
While the Cardinals are the first team to deploy a transition tag this year, 12 others used their franchise tags. This will keep the former Dolphins starter off the market, but Drake can sign offer sheets with other teams. The Cardinals would not any compensation if they fail to match an offer another team submits to Drake.
Steve Keim said the Cards will not release Johnson, with a release not doing anything to help the team in the way of cap savings. It would tag Arizona with $16MM-plus in dead money. Drake supplanted Johnson as the Cards’ starter last season and was the more effective back down the stretch.
More than two years younger than Johnson, Drake, 26, averaged 5.2 yards per carry with the Cardinals after the team traded for him last season. The Dolphins used him as a part-time starter in 2018, with Frank Gore playing a major role in Miami’s backfield that season. Drake, though, profiles as a potentially strong backfield investment. He has only logged 456 carries in his career and and has totaled 822 receiving yards in the past two years.
Packers To Sign T Ricky Wagner
Ricky Wagner will jump from one NFC North offensive line to another. The Packers are signing the recently released Lions lineman, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
A former Ravens starter, Wagner served as the Lions’ right tackle for three seasons. He will be in line to succeed Bryan Bulaga in Green Bay. Bulaga is a free agent expected to have a strong market.
The Lions cut Wagner over the weekend, and the Packers emerged as a suitor Monday morning. Minutes after Green Bay was linked to the seven-year veteran, the sides had a deal. This marks the Packers’ second notable street free agent agreement of the morning, with the team adding linebacker Christian Kirksey as well. It looks like Brian Gutekunst plugged two holes in the team’s starting lineup before the tampering period begins.
Wagner graded as a substandard blocker, per Pro Football Focus, in 2019 but was solid in his initial two Lions seasons. The Lions cut bait on a five-year deal. Wagner came into the league three years after Bulaga did, but the former is only seven months younger than the longtime Green Bay right tackle. Both are 30. Since becoming a Ravens starter in 2014, Wagner has started 87 games.
Cowboys Place Franchise Tag On Dak Prescott
The Cowboys have placed exclusive franchise tag on Dak Prescott, according to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter). This move means that no other team will be allowed to negotiate with him, which has pros and cons for the QB.
Under the traditional non-exclusive tag, Prescott would have been able to talk with other clubs that would potentially be willing to cough up a pair of first-round picks for the right to sign him. On the flipside, the exclusive tag would pay Prescott at the average of the league’s top-five salaries for the 2020 season. With the non-exclusive tag, it would have been the top-five average of last year.
The non-exclusive tag would have come at $26.8MM. With the exclusive version, the number should be somewhere around $31.6MM.
The Cowboys’ long-term negotiations with Prescott have been going on for some time and there was talk just before the season that the two sides were nearing a deal. Since then, the Cowboys haven’t made much progress in bridging the gap, though Jerry Jones & Co. have said repeatedly that they would keep him, one way or another.
With Prescott cuffed for the 2020 season, the Cowboys will turn their attention to finalizing a long-term deal with star receiver Amari Cooper. A new deal for Cooper won’t come cheap, though the depth of this year’s WR class in the draft may work to the Cowboys’ favor. Teams, in theory, could keep a lid on their offers with an eye on finding cheaper and younger receiving talent in April. Cooper’s camp is acutely aware of this scenario – even if they won’t admit it publicly.
In 2019, Cooper registered 79 receptions for 1,189 yards and eight touchdowns and graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 10 receiver in the NFL. Meanwhile, Prescott threw for 4,902 yards and 30 touchdowns and turned in an electric first half to the season.
Titans To Tag RB Derrick Henry
Shortly after the Ryan Tannehill extension news surfaced, the Titans will move to the next phase in their offseason plan. The team will use its franchise tag on Derrick Henry, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Twelve players have now been tagged — most since 21 were in 2012.
The Titans will now have their centerpiece players locked up for 2020. Tannehill and Henry spearheaded the franchise’s first trip to the AFC championship game in 17 years, and the latter authored a historic playoff run. The move to tag Henry will cost $10.3MM.
While this decision will likely send Jack Conklin into free agency, the Titans have gone from potentially losing both Conklin and Henry to keeping a core player — at least for the 2020 season. Henry turned 26 midway through his playoff rampage and would have been an interesting free agent, factoring in his bruising dominance with a lack of impact in the passing game.
Henry led the NFL with 1,540 rushing yards and totaled 18 touchdowns last season. Splitting time with DeMarco Murray during his first two seasons, Henry started slowly in 2018 before finishing strong and closing a 1,000-yard season. He turned in one of the most dominant stretches by a running back in years during the 2019 stretch run to help the Titans go from being shut out in Denver to notching upset playoff wins in New England and Baltimore.
This tag also places Henry in rare territory. In the past eight tag periods, Henry and Le’Veon Bell are the only running backs to receive the tag. The latter played on the tag in 2017 but skipped the 2018 season in protest of it, forfeiting $14.5MM. Henry has not said how he will proceed on the tag, but he and the Titans have until July 15 to agree on an extension. Considering how most of the high-end running back contracts have played out in recent years — including Bell’s Jets pact — Henry’s negotiations will be interesting.
Bengals Plan To Franchise Tag A.J. Green
MARCH 16: Less than two hours before the tag-applying deadline, the Bengals informed Green he will be tagged, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The 31-year-old standout voiced opposition to this move months ago and is coming off a season-long absence.
But after Burrow indicated he would like to have Green in the fold, should he become Cincinnati’s top pick, the Bengals followed through on their expected course of action. A Green tag will cost the Bengals $17.9MM.
MARCH 1: The Bengals plan to put the franchise tag on wide receiver A.J. Green, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The club wants him back in 2020, either on the tag or under a new multi-year pact.
The move will not make Green too happy, as he has previously indicated that he is opposed to the franchise tag. He conceded he would not engage in a season-long holdout if he and Cincinnati cannot work out a new contract, but he is open to holding out throughout the offseason program and training camp. Given that the Bengals will presumably have rookie QB Joe Burrow under center in 2020, Green’s presence during the spring and summer months will be especially crucial, so look for the team to ramp up negotiations in short order.
Of course, determining fair market value for Green won’t be easy. He will doubtlessly be shooting for the top of the wide receiver market, and his abilities and track record make that a fair ask. But he missed the entire 2019 campaign due to an ankle injury, and he hasn’t suited up for a game since Week 13 of the 2018 season. Plus, he will be 32 before the 2020 regular season gets underway, so player and team may have a hard time finding a middle ground.
The Bengals would not have been a playoff team in 2019 even with a healthy Green, but his presence was sorely missed. Cincinnati’s offense was one of the least efficient units in the league last year, and the club finished near the bottom of the pack in terms of yards per game and points per game.
Green, who made the Pro Bowl in each of his first seven years in the league, has topped 1,000 yards every year in which he has appeared in at least 13 games. He has averaged nearly 15 yards per catch in his career, and he has reach double-digit touchdowns three times. He was, without question, one of the best receivers in the league. The Bengals need to figure out if he still is.
Vikings, Kirk Cousins Agree To Extension
The Vikings will make a major move before the tampering period begins. They have reached an agreement on a Kirk Cousins extension, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. It’ll be a two-year deal worth $66MM, bringing the grand total to $96MM over three years, with $61MM guaranteed at signing.
This could be a significant help to a franchise that is annually up against the cap. The Vikings authorized a historic three-year, $84MM fully guaranteed Cousins pact two years ago. This move will help bring down their quarterback’s $31MM 2020 cap number.
While a Minnesota-Cousins re-up was rumored, this stands to change the Vikings’ near-future outlook. Cousins had one season left on his initial Vikings contract. The soon-to-be 32-year-old passer is now signed through the 2022 season. This will put to rest any further rumors of a Cousins-Kyle Shanahan reunion. With the 49ers also passing on Tom Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo again appears to be in the clear.
Minnesota already cleared cap space by cutting Linval Joseph and Xavier Rhodes, going from over the 2020 cap to $15MM-plus under it. This Cousins accord will create additional space for the team in free agency.
Cousins has played fairly well since choosing the Vikings in 2018. He has thrown 56 touchdown passes compared to 16 interceptions. The former fourth-round pick, however, has only finished 14th and 13th in QBR during his two Vikings seasons. The Vikings did win a playoff game in 2019, but their offense accomplished little in a divisional-round loss to the 49ers.
Nevertheless, this deal will keep Cousins in Minnesota for the foreseeable future. While it is likely not a fully guaranteed contract like the 2018 deal was, Cousins surely did well again. Given where the quarterback market has gone since Cousins’ landmark deal, it’s likely this contract will come in north of $30MM per year.
Falcons To Release Devonta Freeman
Up against the 2020 salary cap, the Falcons will cut their longtime starting running back. They will move on from Devonta Freeman before the tampering period begins, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. 
This previously rumored move will not be especially beneficial, though. The Falcons will eat $6MM in dead money by releasing their starting back of the past five seasons. A Freeman release would move Atlanta under the cap, however.
The Falcons will save around $3MM in cap space by releasing him outright. The Falcons have been mulling the possibility of moving on from Freeman for a while now – in October, they strongly considered dealing him to the Lions and other clubs in need of RBs.
Freeman was set to play out the rest of his five-year, $41.25MM deal. Signed in August of 2017, it made him one of the league’s highest-paid RBs. Unfortunately, it did not pan out – Freeman was unable to stay healthy and appeared in just two games in 2018. Last year, he played in 14 contests, but averaged just 3.6 yards per tote.
The Falcons are now charged with having to remake their backfield. As of this writing, they’ve got Brian Hill and….not much else. Many expect the Falcons to target their RB of the future in the draft since they’re lacking in cap flexibility.
Steelers Expected To Tag Bud Dupree
MARCH 16: The Steelers will proceed with a Dupree tag, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). The team is interestingly $3MM-plus over the cap before any Dupree dollars are added to its 2020 payroll, per OverTheCap. A Dupree tag would cost Pittsburgh $15.8MM, if he’s tagged as an outside linebacker. The defensive end tag comes in at $17.8MM. The team has until 3pm CT Wednesday to get under the cap.
MARCH 2: Although the Steelers are projected to hold just $1.5MM in cap space — 31st in the NFL as of Monday — they are still planning on keeping one of their top defenders off the market.
Pittsburgh is preparing to use its franchise tag on Bud Dupree, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). Dupree played out his rookie contract, using his fifth-year option season as a value-raising campaign that has him looming as one of this free agent class’ top pass rushers.
The linebacker franchise tag is expected to come in north of $16MM, though Dupree would surely lobby to be tagged as a defensive end ($18MM-plus). Nevertheless, a tag loomed as a possibility for weeks.
The 2015 first-round pick shattered his previous career-best sack total, registering 11.5 last season. While Dupree has not quite panned out like the Steelers hoped when they took him 22nd overall, he profiles as a key piece for the franchise’s reinvigorated defense. The Steelers ranked third in defensive DVOA last season (first against the pass), and their Dupree-T.J. Watt edge tandem served as a key reason for the re-emergence.
Watt will clearly be the long-term priority, but the Steelers’ chances of assembling a Super Bowl contender around 38-year-old quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will improve if Dupree returns for the 2020 season. This could also be a tag-and-trade precursor. Three teams dealt franchise-tagged edge rushers last year, and the Steelers are certainly not flush with cap space. They also traded their 2020 first- and third-round picks to acquire Minkah Fitzpatrick and Devin Bush and made need future draft capital to pursue a Roethlisberger heir apparent.
Dupree, 27, topped out at six sacks from 2015-18. His 17 quarterback hits last season also ranked 29th. Watt posted 36 QB hits. If the Steelers go into free agency with a Dupree tag on their books, it will nearly tie their hands completely. A franchise that frequently restructures contracts to create immediate cap space likely will go to that well again soon.
Buccaneers To Tag Shaquil Barrett
The Buccaneers will follow through on their plan to use their franchise tag on Shaquil Barrett, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Rumors for weeks have placed Barrett atop Tampa Bay’s free agent hierarchy, and this decision means Jameis Winston is less than three hours away from de facto free agency. The legal tampering period begins at 10:59am CT, and Bucs’ five-year starting quarterback will double as one of the more interesting free agents in recent memory.
After serving as one of Von Miller‘s supporting-casters in Denver for four seasons, and not producing too much statistically, Barrett only received offers from two teams in 2019 free agency. He then shattered the Bucs’ single-season sack record, posting an NFL-high 19.5 to go along with 37 quarterback hits.
This tag would give Barrett $15.8MM (the linebacker price) or $17.8MM (should he win a potential grievance to be tagged as a defensive end).
The sides will have until July 15 to finalize an extension. Barrett, 27, said recently he would play the 2020 season on the tag. Bruce Arians has also indicated he would like to keep Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh. The Bucs made the first step Monday morning. They might have to outwork outside competition to hang onto Suh and JPP.