In the National Football League players attempt to avoid being hit with the franchise tag as much as they try to avoid being placed on injured reserve. The franchise tag in the NFL is in place to allow a team to keep a pending unrestricted free agent under their control for another season. Sometimes teams will hit a player with a franchise tag when a long-term deal can not be immediately worked out while both sides still have hopes for it. In the process players have expressed immense displeasure for the franchise tag due to the fact that it prevents them from getting the big pay day that they were seeking in free agency. Players that are hit with the franchise tag are put in the upper echelon of salaries at their respective position for that season. But like any of us, NFL players want that long-term security of a contract. More importantly players covet their signing bonuses where in this day and age where the average NFL playing career in just three seasons, every dollar counts when it comes to players getting paid. The latest frustrated player that was hit with the franchise tag in the NFL is New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham.
After originally attending the University of Miami as a basketball player, Graham only played one year of college football. The Saints saw enough and drafted him in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft. In three of his four seasons with the Saints, Graham has led the team in receptions and has become one of the best receiving tight ends in the NFL as his 6’7″, 260 pound frame is tough for opposing defenses to stop. But here is where the real problems lies for Graham.
By title Graham is a tight end, but he spends the majority of his time flanked out as a wide receiver. By position, tight ends will be hit with the franchise tag for 2014 are expected to receive $6.8 million while wide receivers will receive $11.6 million so you can see why Graham wants to be treated as a wide receiver. The Saints would love to give Graham a long-term deal, but according to Sportrac.com, the team only has an estimated $8 million in cap space. Saints quarterback Drew Brees is scheduled to make $18.4 million for the upcoming season and he is willing to restructure his deal in the effort to keep his top target in New Orleans. But the franchise tag can cause a divide between players and their respective employer.
From 2003-2005 the Indianapolis Colts hit running back Edgerrin James with the franchise tag on three occasions. Under the old collective bargaining agreement between the players and owners in the NFL, teams were allowed to use the franchise tag on a player three times before changing to its current format of a one-time tag in 2010. James stood by and watched teammates such as wide receiver Reggie Wayne receive long-term security from the Colts while he was unable to attain that. After three straight seasons in which he gained at least 1,200 rushing yards and being hit with the franchise tag, James finally hit free agency in 2006 and he signed a four-year, $32 million deal with the Arizona Cardinals.
After the 2006 NFL season the New England Patriots let it be known that they were going to use their franchise tag option on cornerback Asante Samuel. Like many other players Samuel wasn’t pleased at the notion, but he and the Patriots compromised as he would be allowed to hit free agency at the end of the 2007 season. Samuel and the Patriots parted ways as he signed a lucrative six-year, $56 million deal to join the Philadelpha Eagles.
On the surface Graham appears to be okay with the franchise tag, but he wants Saints owner Tom Benson to back up that Brinks truck and show him the money. The past three seasons have seen Brees pass for more the 5,000 yards with Graham being his key receiver. When Graham goes vertical he tends to take at least two defenders with him which opens up the rest of the field for the other Saints receivers. Last season Graham was targeted by Brees 144 times while his 86 receptions accounted for nearly 20 percent of Brees’ completions in 2013. Graham’s 1,215 receiving yards last season led all tight ends with Cleveland Browns tight end Jordan Cameron finishing second behind him with 917 receiving yards. Graham is just as important to the Saints offense as wide receiver Calvin Johnson is to the Detroit Lions offense. Johnson is scheduled to earn $5 million in base salary next season while incentives can increase that number to over $13 million. Johnson is also under contract with the Lions until 2019.
For his four-year career Graham has earned his piece of the pie and he just wants to be compensated, but he is just caught in the unfortunate grind of the NFL’s salary cap. Graham isn’t the first NFL player to have to suffer through the franchise tag and he won’t be the last.
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