Franchise tag costs down from last year

Share

If the Patriots are going to slap the franchise tag on Wes Welker, it could happen very soon.

Today is the first day that NFL teams can assign the franchise tag to players, and Welker appears to be the most likely Patriot to get the nod if he and the team can't agree to a long-term deal.

One reason the Patriots might be even more inclined to franchise Welker -- aside from the fact that he and Tom Brady have combined to make one of the most productive quarterback-receiver tandems in the NFL over the last five years -- is that the new collective bargaining agreement makes it cheaper to franchise receivers.

As part of the new CBA, franchise tag values are calculated differently than they have been in the past. Before, if a player was franchised, he was to make the average salary of the top five players at his position. Now, it's believed that the system makes it cheaper to franchise players at positions across the board.

Let our guys over at Pro Football Talk explain:

Under Article 9, Section 2(a)(i) of the CBA, the franchise tender for each position arises from a formula that takes the value of franchise tags for the last five years, adds them up, divides them by the total value of the salary cap for the last five years, and multiplies the resulting percentage by the salary cap for the current year. (Since there was no salary cap in 2010, the number to be used will be the average of the salary cap in 2009 and 2011.)

Put the calculator down. Someone's done the math for you. Basically, if the Patriots are going to franchise Welker, the change in calculation means an estimated savings of 2 million.

To franchise a receiver in 2011, it cost 11.4 million. This year, it will cost 9.4 million, according to NFL.com's numbers.

The Patriots are are understood to be significantly under the cap so 2 million wouldn't necessarily make or break their decision to franchise Welker. In fact, as Tom E. Curran explained last week, they could write Welker a sizable check and still afford to make another big free-agent signing.

But 2 million is 2 million. The Patriots will be happy to take whatever wiggle room they can get as they allocate dollars this offseason to free agents and draft picks. And for this particular chunk of savings, they have the new CBA to thank.

Contact Us