Inside The Bills

Tag of Byrd was non-exclusive

The Bills put the franchise tag on Jairus Byrd Friday, but the nature of the tag was the question.

The club confirmed this afternoon that the franchise tag used was non-exclusive. That means that other NFL clubs can try and sign Byrd to an offer sheet. Buffalo has the right to match any offer, but if they choose not the Bills would be awarded a pair of first round picks by the club that signed Byrd away.

That’s unlikely to happen. It’s virtually unheard of for a team to part with a pair of first-round draft choices for a safety.

Franchise tag refresher

Now that Jairus Byrd has been given the franchise tag by the Bills, we thought we’d provide the nuts and bolts of the franchise tag as a refresher.

First, the franchise tag is essentially a one-year qualifying offer in which the team agrees to pay the player  the average of the five largest Prior Year Salaries for players at the position or 120% of his prior year’s salary, whichever is greater.

There are two designations of the franchise tag. Exclusive and non-exclusive.

The Bills did not disclose whether they used the non-exclusive or exclusive franchise tag. The non-exclusive franchise tag still allows other clubs the opportunity to sign Byrd to an offer sheet and gives the Bills the right to match any offer. If Byrd is signed by another club and Buffalo chooses not to match the Bills would be awarded a pair of first round draft choices from the club that signed Byrd.

The exclusive franchise tag prohibits any other club from negotiating with Byrd.

The Bills also have the opportunity to negotiate with Byrd’s camp in an effort to sign him to a long term contract extension up until July 15th.

Byrd tweets, ‘It’s all good!’

Bills S Jairus Byrd, who was tagged as the team’s franchise player Friday, tweeted an interesting Bible verse just hours before the Bills announced they would use the franchise tag on their Pro Bowl safety.

Byrd, who is a very religious man, tweeted the following approximately four hours prior to the news breaking that he was given the franchise tag.

Jeremiah 29:11-12…it’s all good!

— jairus byrd (@jairusbyrd) March 1, 2013

The Bible verse Byrd cited reads as follows.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

Report: Bills to place franchise tag on Byrd

The report hardly comes as a surprise. With just over three days before the deadline to make use of the franchise or transition tag on a prospective free agent, the Bills are reportedly going to make use of their franchise tag by placing it on Jairus Byrd.

That according to ESPN NFL reporter Adam Schefter. The franchise tag for a safety is $6.916M.

Bills are placing franchise tag on S Jairus Byrd.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 1, 2013

NFL.com’s Ian Rapaport later followed up with a report of his own.

Looking like #Bills likely will franchise S Jairus Byrd, source says. We’ll see what he decides to do. (@adamschefter had it first)

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 1, 2013

NFL franchise tag figures up from projections

The NFL released a projected set of franchise and transition tag figures by position a couple of months ago. Today they released the official figures.

With the previously released figures only being projected numbers the greatest change between the projected figures to the actual ones below took place at quarterback position with an increase of $254K, defensive end ($195K) and cornerback (194K).

At safety, a position where the Bills could make use of the franchise tag on impending free agent Jairus Byrd, the franchise tag went up $118K from a projected $6.798M to $6.916M.

Position  Franchise/Transition
QB: 14,896,000/13,068,000
RB: 8,219,000/6,970,000
WR: 10,537,000/8,867,000
TE: 6,066,000/5,194,000
OL: 9,828,000/8,709,000
DT: 8,450,000/7,039,000
DE: 11,175,000/9,151,000
LB: 9,619,000/8,358,000
CB: 10,854,000/9,095,000
S: 6,916,000/6,002,000
K/P: 2,977,000/2,700,000

Projected franchise & transition tags

For those that haven’t seen them here are the projected franchise and transition tag figures for 2013.

The league has not finalized these figures as of yet, but they will do so in March. The figures are a bit of a moving target because if one player is franchised, his salary is then factored in for the next player at that position that might be franchised thereby increasing the value of the figure.

2013 Projected franchise and transition tag tenders
CB: Franchise: $10.668         Transition: $8.939
DE: Franchise: $10.984         Transition: $8.994
DT: Franchise: $8.306           Transition: $6.919
K/P: Franchise: $2.926         Transition: $2.654
LB: Franchise: $9.455           Transition: $8.216
OL: Franchise: $9.660           Transition: $8.560
QB: Franchise: $14.642         Transition: $12.845
RB: Franchise: $8.079           Transition: $6.851
S: Franchise: $6.798             Transition: $5.899
TE: Franchise: $5.962            Transition: $5.105
WR: Franchise: $10.357        Transition: $8.716

Tag for Stevie still in play

While a host of other NFL clubs are pulling the trigger with their franchise tag here on Friday, the Bills are going to wait until the last day that the tag is available to them before they make a decision on whether to use it on free agent WR Stevie Johnson.

Appearing on Bills flagship station WGR Sportsradio 550 this week, Bills GM Buddy Nix said the franchise tag is still an option that’s in play for Buffalo.

“We’ve got an option to either tag him or not,” Nix told the Howard Simon show Thursday. ”We don’t have to make that decision until March the 5th and that’s when we’ll make it.”

The deadline to make use of the franchise tag for NFL clubs is Monday at 4 pm. When asked if he feels they can get a long term deal done with Johnson prior to the tag deadline Nix offered the following.

“Well we hope so,” he said. ”As long as we’re talking we’ve got a chance.”

Tags are flying

After the Raiders tagged S Tyvon Branch, the Falcons followed up with a tag of CB Brent Grimes, and there are a couple of other NFL clubs prepared to do the same in short order.

Here’s a list of other prospective free agents that could be tagged if their current clubs can’t reach a long term contract agreement prior to Monday’s tag deadline.

S Dashon Goldson – 49ers
CB Cortland Finnegan – Titans
QB Drew Brees – Saints
RB Ray Rice – Ravens
RB Marshawn Lynch – Seahawks
DE Calais Campbell – Cardinals
WR Wes Welker – Patriots
RB Matt Forte – Bears

Bills Assistant GM Doug Whaley said last week that they have not ruled out using the franchise tag themselves if they’re unable to reach a long term agreement with Stevie Johnson.

“We’re in contact with his representatives and we’re trying very hard to get him back in the fold and get a deal done with him,” said Whaley.

First FA WR tagged

In a bumper crop of free agent wide receivers the Philadelphia Eagles applied the first franchise tag.

Philly tagged free agent WR DeSean Jackson on Thursday.

“We want DeSean to be an Eagle for the long haul and this is a step in the right direction to accomplish that,” said Eagles G.M. Howie Roseman said.  “DeSean is a talented player and a proven playmaker in this league and we look forward to him continuing his career in Philadelphia.  It’s our understanding that he has the same desire.  We will continue our efforts on getting a long-term deal done with him.”

Reports are indicating that Oakland safety Tyvon Branch could be next in line to be tagged with the franchise label. Ravens RB Ray Rice is also expected to be tagged Friday. The deadline for teams to apply the tag is Monday March 5th.

Tag time

Today is the first day NFL clubs can make use of their franchise tags, but there’s two weeks for teams to place it on one of their prospective free agents.

The deadline for tags is March 4th.

Fan Friday 12-16

Three games left for the Bills, but Fan Friday is here for you each and every week. Let’s get to your questions from AskChris@bills.nfl.net.

1 – Chris,
Can you confirm that it would cost the Bills $9.4M to franchise Stevie Johnson for next year?

Thanks,
Jason K.

CB: Your number is in the range projected for 2012. In 2011 the franchise tag for a wide receiver was $11.3 million, but that number is going to come down considerably in 2012. That’s because under the new CBA the franchise tag figure will no longer be the average of the top five salaries at the position. Instead it will be the average of the highest-paid player at the position in each of the last five years.

So the number won’t be reached with just salary figures from 2011, but from 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. That’s going to drive the figure down. Estimates are pegging the wide receiver figure to be between $9.4 and $9.8 million depending on whether the salary cap stays flat at $120M or goes up to $125M.

I’m not convinced that the Bills will make use of the franchise tag, especially in light of reports that Johnson is looking for less than the projected franchise figure per season. Signing him up long term would likely prove to be the better option.

2 – Chris,
What day does free agency start in 2012? I heard that it’s starting later this year. Thanks for your help!

Brandon Pease

CB: Free agency will start later than the typical March 1^st date in 2012. The market will not open until March 13^th and it will open at 4 pm, not midnight.

3 - Hi Chris,

I know we signed Fitz to a long term deal, but as disgruntled Bills fan I think we should trade all our draft picks this year for Luck & next year’s # 1 if we have to. They’re saying Luck is better than Elway & Manning so I can see trading all those picks. If we can’t get Luck, how about moving up to get Barkley? We need a franchise QB & Fitz is not the answer. At best he is probably a 8-8 QB. I like Fitz, but he is not going to take this team to the next level. Also why don’t we go back to playing the 4-3 defense permanently. Warren Sapp & Jamie Dukes said that in the beginning of the season. Forget the 3-4 it does not work. Williams & Dareus in the middle who is going to run on us. thank you!!

ICON77

CB: First of all to say he’s better than Manning or Elway is not something I’ve heard anyone say. All I’ve heard is he’s the best QB prospect since Manning in ’98. Trading your entire draft for one player is foolhardy. I respect the need for a team to have a franchise quarterback in this league now more than ever, but the holes that still exist on this team are too numerous to toss away an entire draft’s worth of choices for one player.

I think there might be more merit to your 4-3 defense request. My only concern there is where do you put Nick Barnett? Shep is the bigger and stouter run defender so he would presumably be your MLB. Barnett could probably play WLB because he runs well, but having never seen him in that role I’m not sure about it.

4 – Hey Chris,
With the way things are going and their remaining schedule, a 5-11 finish seems very possible. It’s still a little premature for that, but hypothetically if that were to happen, that would get Buffalo a very nice draft pick, so do you think they should take a quarterback like Matt Barkley or Landry Jones, if one is still available when they pick?

At the very least, it would give Fitzpatrick competition for his job, so if he doesn’t perform, he’s not going to start. If Fitz can prove himself and bring back the magic next year, then you could always trade a guy like Barkley or Jones for a very nice return. If Fitz doesn’t work out, then you’ve got a very promising young quarterback to take over. With Fitz’s contract, it would suck having him as a backup, but at the same time, you can’t start him if he’s not performing just because of his contract.

Thanks,
Jack

CB: I think Barkley won’t be there assuming the Bills pick around 7 or 8. Landry Jones would be there, but I’m not sure he’s deserving of that value (top 10). Knowing Buffalo is committed to Fitz I think it makes getting a top flight pass rusher trump everything if the right one is there when the Bills are on the clock.

That’s not to say your QB idea doesn’t have merit. If the right signal caller is there when the Bills pick Buddy Nix said last year that you have to take him no matter what. So it shouldn’t be completely dismissed.

5 - Chris,

Happy Holidays and a great 2012 to you and yours!

I have concerns about the receiving corps next year. A playmaker opposite Stevie has got to emerge. Have the coaches seen enough to make them think Brad Smith could be that guy, or do you think we need to invest a 2nd or 3rd round pick on a potential no. 2 WR?

Also, you’ve stated that Gailey places a high value on Roscoe Parrish’s abilities, and that you expect Roscoe to stick. I, however, believe that David Nelson has truly earned the slot receiver spot. I’d hate to see David lose playing time, he will only get better. Will the coaches simply hand over the slot receiver role to a healthy Roscoe?

Thanks so much,
Kenny in Indiana

CB: I still think Roscoe can be a valuable contributor to the offense, but I don’t believe it has to be at the expense of David Nelson. This team’s most popular formation when everyone was healthy was a 4 WR, 1 back set. So Parrish and Nelson can be on the field at the same time. Minus Roscoe and Easley there was a lack of top end speed at the position on the field. Speed isn’t everything at receiver, but it helps.

As for putting a draft priority on receiver I would expect them to consider a speed wideout in the middle rounds knowing Easley’s delicate injury history. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well.

Tagged players so far

The franchise and transition tags still have a little over a week to be applied, but here’s the rundown of those players that have been tagged so far per media and team reports.

Franchised
OL Logan Mankins – New England
QB Michael Vick – Philadelphia (exclusive)
ILB David Harris – NY Jets
WR Vincent Jackson – San Diego
QB Peyton Manning – Indianapolis
DT Haloti Ngata – Baltimore

Transitioned
K David Akers – Philadelphia

More players are expected to be tagged, but whether the tags are deemed valid could be another question as the NFLPA is challenging the use of tags with the CBA expiring in a couple of weeks.

The league has stated that franchise and transition tags can be used. Teams have until Feb. 24th to use them.

Franchise tag projections

According to the NFL the league’s 32 teams can begin making use of the franchise and transition tags on prospective free agent players beginning today. However, franchise and transition tag amounts have yet to be released by the league. So here are the projections by position.

Mac’s Football Blog has done some number crunching and they provide projections for what the franchise and transition tag amounts will be at each position. Needless to say some of the figures are getting to a very cost prohibitive level.

Some of it is due to the ballooning of a top player’s salary (See: Albert Haynesworth – $24M in 2010 or Miles Austin – $17M in 2010). Those figures raise the average of the top 5 or top 10 players at a position considerably.

The biggest projected franchise tag jumps are at DT ($5.3M) and CB ($4.8M). 

The only tag anticipated to drop is the OL franchise tag because guys like Philadelphia’s Jason Peters and Seattle’s Sean Locklear agreed to restructure their deals in 2010 giving them lesser annual salary this past year.

In any event here are the ugly numbers from Mac’s Football Blog, which is why I’m not anticipating a whole lot of tagging this offseason.

QB
2010 – FT $16.4M, TT $14.546M
2011 projection – FT $17.095M, TT $14.762M

RB
2010 – FT $8.156M, TT $7.151M
2011 projection – FT $9.864M, TT $8.047M

WR
2010 – FT $9.521M, TT $8.651M
2011 projection – FT $11.933M, TT $10.024M

TE
2010 – FT $5.908M, TT $5.248M
2011 projection – FT $7.285M, TT 6.246M

OL
2010 – FT $10.731M, TT $9.142M
2011 projection – FT $10.51M, TT $9.311M

DE
2010 – FT $12.398M, TT $10.193M
2011 projection – FT $13.005M, TT $10.306M

DT
2010 – FT $7.003M, TT $6.353M
2011 projection - FT $12.381M, TT $9.405M

LB
2010 – FT $9.368M, TT $8.373M
2011 projection – FT $10.191M, TT $8.943M 

CB
2010 – FT $9.566M, TT $8.056M
2011 projection – FT $14.354M, TT $11.817M

S
2010 – FT $6.455M, TT $6.011M
2011 projection – FT $9.625M, TT $8.202M

K/P
2010 – FT $2.841M, TT $2.629M
2011 projection – FT $3.26M, $2.956M

Tags can be used in a week

According to the Boston Globe the league has informed the 32 NFL clubs that they can begin using the franchise and/or transition tags in  week.

Due to the fact that the current CBA has not expired the league said clubs can make use of the franchise tag beginning Feb. 10th. The rules with respect to the tags will operate in the same fashion as they did in 2010 under final year rules, which means teams can use both a franchise and transition tag if they so choose.

The deadline to apply the tag is Feb. 24th.

The Bills are not expected to make use of either tag designation on any of their free agents.

Steelers ready to tag Hampton

The Pittsburgh Steelers are reportedly working on a long term deal with free agent to be DT Casey Hampton, but if one can’t be reached they’re prepared to use the franchise tag.

That according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, as the Steelers have until Thursday to use the tag.

New England has already tagged Vince Wilfork. Others DTs expected to be tagged if a long term deal can’t be reached include Green Bay’s Ryan Pickett and San Fran’s Aubrayo Franklin.

All top DTs to be tagged?

If long terms deals are not worked out for some potential free agent defensive tackles, it’s almost certain that they’ll be tagged with the franchise label prior to Feb. 25.

That’s the deadline for NFL clubs to make use of the franchise tag, and according to NFL.com’s Jason LaCanfora, four of the top six players most expect to get tagged sans a long term deal are DTs. With the franchise tag just a shade over $7M for DTs, it’s not surprising that NFL teams are willing to go that route to protect one of the more important parts of their defense.

The four defensive tackles expected to be franchised if no long term deal can be reached are New England’s Vince Wilfork, Pittsburgh’s Casey Hampton, San Fran’s Aubrayo Franklin and Green Bay’s Ryan Pickett.

Not surprisingly, all four play in 3-4 systems and those teams know that quality NTs don’t grow on trees. The other two players expected to be franchised are New Orleans S Darren Sharper and Oakland DL Richard Seymour.

The Bills are in need of a true nose tackle as they make the transition to the 3-4 defense, but it doesn’t appear that making a play for any of the above NTs will be an option.

DEs see biggest jump in franchise tag

The NFL franchise tag and transition tag figures are out for 2010 courtesy of the Newark Star-Ledger. And it looks like the big position winner this year is defensive end.

The franchise tag, which is an average of the top five paid players at each position obviously varies based on what top flight players signed new long term deals for big money that particular year. Defensive ends saw the biggest increase in their franchise tag figure from $8.99M in 2009 to a whopping $12.398M. Part of the reason for the big jump in top five average was thanks to Carolina’s Julius Peppers, who played under the top one-year tender of $16.68M in 2009.

I don’t anticipate the Bills using a franchise tag on any of their unrestricted free agents.

Here are the 2010 franchise tags for each position and how they compare to the figures from a year ago. Only the wide receiver and cornerback positions saw slight decreases.

Pos.       2009 Franchise tender         2010 Franchise tender               % change
QB                       $14.65M                                              $16.405M                              11% increase
RB                       $6.62M                                                $8.156M                                 19% increase
WR                      $9.88M                                                $9.521M                                  4% decrease
TE                       $4.46M                                                 $5.908M                               25% increase
OL                       $8.45M                                                $10.731M                             22% increase
DE                       $8.99M                                                $12.398M                             28% increase
DT                       $6.06M                                                $7.003M                              13.5% incr.
LB                       $8.3M                                                   $9.68M                                  15% increase
CB                       $9.96M                                                $9.566M                                 1% decrease
S                          $6.34M                                                $6.455M                                 2% increase
K/P                    $2.48M                                                $2.814M                               12% increase

Franchise tags by position

Here are the franchise tags by position for 2009 for those that haven’t seen them. They were reported by the National Football Post. For those who were wondering if the Bills would use the franchise tag on Jabari Greer, $9.96M is all you need to see for your answer. The deadline to use the franchise tag is Feb. 19.

QB  – $14.65M
RB  – $6.62M
WR – $9.88M
TE  – $4.46M 
OL – $8.45M 
DE – $8.99M 
DT – $6.06M 
LB – $8.3M
CB – $9.96M 
S – $6.34M 
K/P – $2.48M

Safeties & QBs see biggest franchise tag jump

The NFLPA released the 2009 franchise and transition tag figures in their annual meeting and it appears quarterbacks and safeties will see the biggest increase from 2008.

Quarterbacks, whose franchise tag actually dropped from 2007 to 2008 ($12.6M to $10.7M), saw a 27% increase this year to $14.65M from the ’08 figure.

Safety, a position not usually benefiting from a sharp increase got a 31% bump this year as $6.34M is significantly higher than last year’s $4.4M.

Wide receivers had the third highest increase in franchise tag figure from the previous year up 22% to $9.88M.

Basically the movement up or down of the franchise tag hinges on what players signed blockbuster contracts at that position the previous year.

For example, part of the reason the franchise tag for safety went up so much was due in part to the extension for Baltimore’s Ed Reed last year (6 yrs. $40M, $15M bonus) and the ridiculous contract signed by Gibril Wilson with the Raiders (6 yrs. $39M, $16M guar.).

But if in a given free agent year there aren’t many big signings at a certain position, the tag figure can drop as was the case this year with the defensive tackle position, which saw the biggest drop of 6%. But with Albert Haynesworth due to sign for giant money, that figure will probably show an increase in 2010.

Only two other positions besides DT saw drops as tight ends and kickers and punters each dropped just 1%.

Free agency opens a couple of days earlier

Last season the NFL free agency period opened on March 1st, but with March 1st falling on a Sunday, free agency will open at 12:01am on Friday February 27th.

The day before (Feb. 26) will be the deadline for teams to tender qualifying offers to restricted free agents (e.g. John DiGiorgio) and exclusive rights free agents (e.g. Fred Jackson) to retain either right of first refusal or exclusive rights to said player.

The deadline for a restricted free agent to sign their tender is April 17.

The deadline to designate franchise and transition players is Feb. 19th.