STAR STEELER GETS FRANCHISE TAG AGAIN
Rams place tag on safety Joyner
Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell can’t negotiate with other teams, and he will receive over $14 million in return. Meanwhile, the player and organization are negotiating.
Five NFL players have been given the franchise tag, with only Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell getting the exclusive tag.
Bell, who has been adamant about not playing under the tag for a second straight season, can’t negotiate with any other teams. Pittsburgh must offer him the average of the top five running backs’ salaries. Both sides plan to continue negotiating.
“Pittsburgh: the city that took in a 21-year old kid from smalltown Ohio, the city I battled thru adversity in, the city that I became a man in,” Bell tweeted. “I love everything about being a Pittsburgh Steeler, and I want nothing more than to finish the rest of my career in Pitt!”
Also getting franchise tags were Miami wide receiver Jarvis Landry, Detroit defensive end Ezekiel Ansah, Dallas DE DeMarcus Lawrence, and Los Angeles Rams safety Lamarcus Joyner. They can talk with other teams, but their current team would get compensation if they leave.
The only player given the transition tag was Chicago cornerback Kyle Fuller. Free agency begins on March 14.
The franchise tag value for running backs is $11.866 million. But Bell is scheduled to make $14.54 million in 2018 because it is his second straight tag.
For defensive ends, it is $17.143 million, while it’s $15.982 million for receivers and $11.287 million for safeties.
Fuller’s transition amount is $9.536 million.
Last year’s franchise tags went to Bell and Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins, both exclusive, and to Arizona linebacker Chandler Jones, Carolina defensive tackle Kawann Short, Chargers LB Melvin Ingram, Rams CB Trumaine Johnson and Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul.
Lawrence calls the franchise tag for 2018 a potential gift and a curse. But he has no time for the negativity of what might happen if he doesn’t follow his breakout season in 2017 when he registered 14½sacks with another big year.
He is not mad at the process. But rather, he is using the tag as motivation to secure the longterm deal that he long wanted and make more money than he ever dreamed.
“It means I get another opportunity to showcase my skills and solidify a long-term deal,” Lawrence said Tuesday. “But it’s a gift and a curse. I have the possibility and going out and getting hurt. It’s a gift because if I put those stats up and be the person you know you are and you have a chance to get paid more. I have the opportunity to go out and make more money than I ever dreamed of.”
Cousins’ time with the Washington Redskins is about to end as expected.
The Redskins have agreed to acquire Alex Smith from the Kansas City Chiefs, effectively pushing Cousins into free agency following a tumultuous six years with the club that drafted him. Cousins will be the top free agent available when the league year opens in mid-March and should have no shortage of suitors.
“Next week is now officially the first time since 2007 that I’ll be choosing where to play football,” Cousins posted on Twitter. “I’m open to suggestions.”
The 29-year-old Cousins is coming off his third consecutive 4,000-yard passing season. In his time as a full-time NFL starter, he has completed 67 percent of his passes for 81 touchdowns, 36 interceptions and a 97.5 QB rating.
Despite previously saying Washington could win with Cousins, coach Jay Gruden said at the scouting combine that “it’s time for us to move on” and find some continuity at the position.
The Redskins now seemingly have that in Smith, who will join the Redskins once the trade becomes official March 14 and has agreed to a fouryear extension with $71 million guaranteed.
Cousins could easily command more than that on the open market with the New York Jets, Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals and Cleveland Browns among the teams interested in upgrading at quarterback.
After becoming the first QB in NFL history to play two consecutive seasons on the franchise tag — making almost $44 million in the process — Cousins is looking for long-term stability in the wake of almost-weekly questions about his future in Washington persisted over the past few years.