Playing tag
Steelers want to keep LB Dupree around for at least one more year
Ray Fittipaldo explores the history of the Steelers’ use of the franchise tag.
When NFL owners were forced to grant free agency to players in 1993, one of the stipulations in the collective bargaining agreement allowed teams to hang on to one star player after their contract expired by using franchise or transition tags. It was meant to be a placeholder for teams as they tried to negotiate long-term deals, but in many cases over the years, it served only as a one-year rental that delayed a player from reaching the open market.
The first player the Steelers used the franchise tag on was tight end Eric Green, who earned $1.3 million on a one-year contract in 1994 after he and the team could not come to terms on a long-term deal. Green left the Steelers after the 1994 season to sign a big deal with the Miami Dolphins.
This year, the Steelers are expected to place a tag on Bud Dupree sometime between now and March 12. And when they do, the sixth-year outside linebacker is expected to earn somewhere between $14 million and $16 million if the two sides can’t agree on a long-term contract.
The price tags have changed drastically over the past 26 years. Dupree certainly is happy about that, but long-term deals have been hard to come by for the Steelers in recent years.
On the 10 occasions the Steelers have used the franchise or transition tag, only four players have signed long-term contracts with the club. In five of the other six cases, the tag served as a one-year rental before the player left the team. (The Steelers used tags on Max Starks in consecutive years in 2008 and 2009, and Starks signed a long-term contract in 2009.)
Green, kicker Jeff Reed and running back Le’Veon Bell did not come back to the Steelers and signed with other teams. Jason Worilds retired after the Steelers tagged him in 2014.
The previous time the Steelers tagged a player and signed him to a long-term deal was 2011, when outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley signed a six-year deal.
The Steelers would like for the same to happen with Dupree.
“I say this in all seriousness: Everything changes as we go through this, free agency, the draft,” general manager Kevin Colbert said last week at the NFL Scouting Combine. “One thing that won’t change is our desire to have him finish his career as a Pittsburgh Steeler. He had a great season for us, he earned it. There’s no denying that. We are just as happy as can be.”
Colbert expressed similar sentiment when the Steelers placed the franchise tag on Bell in 2017 and 2018. The Steelers could not come to terms with Bell in the summer of 2017, and he played the season on the one-year franchise tender. The Steelers tagged him again in 2018. They hoped to sign him again, but Bell decided to sit out the season before signing with the New York Jets last spring as an unrestricted free agent.
The Steelers made competitive offers to Bell on each occasion, but he was hell bent on reaching the open market because he wanted to maximize his earning potential.
Bell’s yearlong holdout is the most extreme scenario when teams play the tag game. Dupree said in December he will sign the tag if the Steelers use it on him.
There are a couple of options for the Steelers, some of which are complicated by the players’ coming vote on the new collective bargaining agreement the NFL owners passed.
• Franchise tags: The non-exclusive franchise tag allows players to negotiate and sign offer sheets with other teams that the original team has the right to match. If the original team does not match the offer, it receives two first-round picks as compensation. The exclusive franchise tag allows only the original team to negotiate with the player. The franchise tag for an outside linebacker this year is expected to be between $15 million and $16 million, which under league rules, is the average of the top five salary cap hits at the position in the previous five years.
• Transition tag: The transition tag allows players to negotiate with other teams, but the original team has right of first refusal. However, unlike the non-exclusive franchise tag, the team receives no compensation if they don’t match the offer from another team. The price for a linebacker on the transition tag this year is expected to be a little more than $14 million, the average of the top 10 salaries at the position.
This year, the final year of the current collective bargaining agreement, teams can use two tags. So technically, the Steelers would be allowed to tag Dupree and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, who is also set to become an unrestricted free agent. Further complicating matters, the NFL has not said what will happen if the players vote to ratify the new collective bargaining agreement, although it is expected teams would have to rescind one of the tags.
Due to salary cap restraints, it’s unlikely the Steelers would be able to use two tags. The 2020 cap figure is expected to be about $200 million, an increase over the $188 million in 2019. The cap is expected to take a big jump in 2021 if the CBA is ratified by players. If that happens the league is expected to negotiate lucrative television contracts that will far exceed the current contracts. Some estimates have the cap going to $240 million in 2021.
But for now, the Steelers will have to release players currently under contract just to be able to place a tag on Dupree. The Steelers must be in compliance with the salary cap by March 18, the first day of the new league year.