TAGGING OUT
Jints pass on franchise label, kick-start O-line overhaul
It is franchise tag time in the NFL. Expect the Giants to sit this one out.
The Giants have 19 of their own unrestricted free agents to sort through once the market opens March 14, and it is a good bet the vast majority of them will not be re-signed. An argument can be made this new Giants regime, led by general manager Dave Gettleman, views all or almost all 19 players as expendable. And it is almost assured Gettleman will deem none of the players on the list worthy of the franchise tag.
Tuesday is the first day NFL teams can use the franchise tag on one of their players, a time frame that extends through March 6. A team can use the franchise tag on only one player, and it virtually assures that player will remain with the team for the season for an extremely high one-year contract. Designating a player with the franchise tag also can serve as insurance, as it keeps the player off the market while a long-term deal is negotiated. That scenario developed a year ago with defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul.
The Giants have a history of using the franchise tag sparingly — only five times on four players (left tackle Jumbo Elliott, running back Brandon Jacobs, punter Steve Weatherford and Pierre-Paul, twice) since its inception in 1993.
There are no logical candidates this time around. The two highest-profile Giants free agents are center Weston Richburg and guard/tackle Justin Pugh. The cost of placing the franchise tag on an offensive lineman this year would be in excess of $14.2 million, which is far too steep for the Giants, given they are only around $22 million under the salary cap, a total that will rise once they begin cutting veterans from their roster.
Gettleman has promised to rebuild the offensive line, and there is a good chance Pugh and Richburg are not part of the rebuild. Pugh, 27, was the Giants’ 2013 first-round pick (19th overall) out of Syracuse. He started all 16 games as a rookie at right tackle and started 14 more the next season at right tackle before moving inside to left guard the past three years. Staying on the field has been an issue for Pugh — he missed five games in 2016 with a knee injury and missed eight games this past season with a back injury.
The Giants are expected to make a big push to sign Andrew Norwell, 26, a rags-to-riches offensive guard who made the Panthers as an undrafted player in 2014, when Gettleman was the general manager in Charlotte. The Panthers, according to reports, are not expected to use their franchise tag this year. If they do, Norwell would be a sensible option.
The going rate for a top guard is the five-year, $60 million contract the Browns gave Kevin Zeitler last year, and Norwell will exceed those numbers. The Giants will not extend themselves that far for Pugh. If they want to re-sign D.J. Fluker, who started six games in 2017 and immediately helped jump-start the running game, he would be a more affordable option.
Richburg, 26, was the Giants’ 2014 second-round pick. He missed one game in his first three seasons but played in just four games in 2017 before landing on injured reserve after dealing with a concussion. He was supplanted at center by Brett Jones, a restricted free agent whom the Giants are likely to resign and watch Richburg hit the open market.
Other unrestricted free agents — running backs Orleans Darkwa and Shane Vereen, linebackers Devon Kennard, Jonathan Casillas, Keenan Robinson and Kelvin Sheppard, defensive lineman Jay Bromley — are not considerations for the franchise tag.