For the sixth straight yr, the Detroit Lions have chosen to not use their franchise tag. The final time they did was in 2018, after they tagged Ezekiel Ansah. He would play out that one yr on the tag earlier than the Lions let him go.
However throughout the NFL, groups nonetheless repeatedly use the tag. Whereas that will appear inconsequential to the Lions, it isn’t. Detroit is predicted to be considerably lively in free company, and different groups’ use of the franchise tag straight impacts the pool of free brokers obtainable.
With the franchise deadline now handed at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, right here’s a full record of the gamers who acquired the franchise tag.
Franchise tagged:
Transition tagged:
Clearly, this takes some prime targets off the board for the Lions, significantly on the defensive facet of the ball. Josh Allen and Brian Burns had been two elite cross rushers who might immediately rework Detroit’s protection. In the meantime, Jaylon Johnson and L’Jarius Sneed had been two early free agent targets from Lions followers, although it was obvious early on that they’d be troublesome to amass.
Franchise tagging doesn’t essentially imply these gamers are now not obtainable. If a staff is open to a tag-and-trade deal—just like the Chiefs seem like with Sneed—they might nonetheless be in the marketplace. A much less probably choice is for the Lions to offer any of those participant a suggestion sheet, giving the unique staff an choice: match the deal or let the participant go in trade for 2 first spherical picks. These form of offers are extraordinarily uncommon, and the Lions are unlikely to pursue that choice given the excessive draft value.
