The window for NFL teams to use either the franchise tag or the transition tag on soon-to-be free agents opened on Tuesday. That means the Arizona Cardinals can protect themselves from losing one of their key free agents and extend the window to negotiate a long-term deal.
However, don’t expect them to use either tag.
Why?
None of their scheduled free agents would be considered premium players.
Who are their best free agents?
- OL Will Hernandez
- LB Kyzir White
- DL L.J. Collier
- DL Roy Lopez
- K Matt Prater
- LB Baron Browning
The Cardinals already have Prater’s expected replacement on the roster in Chad Ryland. Ryland is under contract through next season.
Hernandez is coming off an ACL tear and, while he is a quality starter, he is not one of the best guards in the NFL.
The same applies to White.
Collier was a rotational player for the Cardinals who became a starter only because of season-ending injuries to other starters.
Lopez is an NFL starter but is not elite or even a great player. He is solid.
Browning is not yet even a proven player.
The cost to use the tags on these players wouldn’t make sense.
For White or Browning, the transition tag would cost more than $22 million and the franchise tag more than $27 million.
For Hernandez, the tags would be more than $22 million and more than $25 million, both ridiculous numbers.
For Lopez and Collier, it would be either nearly $19 million or more than $23 million.
Prater’s tag would be the most affordable at over $5.8 million or more than $6.4 million, but the Cardinals already have his replacement, so it isn’t needed.
Arizona has not used any tag in a while. The last time they used either was the transition tag on running back Kenyan Drake in 2020 and, before that, the franchise tag on linebacker Chandler Jones in 2017.
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