New Raiders G.M. Reggie McKenzie is currently in slash-and-burn mode. But there are some Raiders that he wants to keep.
Jason La Canfora of NFL Network reports that safety Tyvon Branch has been informed he will receive the franchise tag. DeSean Jackson was the first player this year to officially get the tag on Thursday.
We’d argue that Branch is the best player in the Raiders secondary. The franchise number for safeties is relatively reasonable (under $7 million), so the move makes sense. This eliminates any consideration of Michael Bush for the tag.
It raises some question about whether the Raiders will retain safety Michael Huff, who is due to make $8 million in 2012. $4 million is guaranteed for Huff, so we’d guess that the team will keep Huff. (We also would have guessed the team would keep Kamerion Wimbley. And that’s not looking too likely.)
Branch is a ferocious hitter than can cover a lot of ground. Raiders fans don’t seem overly impressed with McKenzie’s moves so far, but we suspect they will like this one. They should.