Dolphins defensive tackle Paul Soliai has become the 14th NFL player to get the franchise tag this offseason.
For defensive linemen, the franchise tag is a one-year contract worth about $12.5 million, an enormous raise for Soliai, whose 2010 salary was $467,000.
Soliai’s agent, David Canter, told the Sun-Sentinel that Soliai wants to stay in Miami and would have been willing to get a deal done sooner if it weren’t for the 30 percent rule.
“We want to be here. We’ve said it day in and day out. We want to be here,” Canter said. “As long as everything works out and there’s a new CBA, we can negotiate in good faith without the limitations of the 30 percent rule. We’re going to give the Miami Dolphins as fair a shot as they would have ever hoped to get.”
Now Soliai, a four-year veteran, just needs to sign his franchise tender to get a raise of a whole lot more than 30 percent -- closer to 3,000 percent.