With the franchise tag window open and an apple pie still slowly cooling on the ledge, the question becomes whether any of the players who ultimately receive the one-year payday that goes along with being blocked from the open market will view it as a turd sandwich.
Guys like Kirk Cousins won’t; at $23.94 million for 2017, he’ll gladly pounce on the tender, signing it and adding the dollars to his $19.95 million from 2016. For others, it’s still not clear what they will do.
Last month, Panthers defensive tackle Kawann Short suggested he’d quickly accept a one-year franchise tender from the Panthers. While that comment quickly was clarified to suggest Short won’t sign it quickly, there’s still a chance that Short will decide to take the one-year payday, attempt to negotiate a long-term deal before the July 15 deadline, and if necessary do it again in 2018.
In 2016, the Panthers shocked the NFL by rescinding the tender from cornerback Josh Norman in April, making him a free agent after the big money had flowed. Norman still got a great deal, and there’s a chance that, if the Panthers become exasperated with Short and yank the tag, he’ll reel in a big deal, too.
Signing the tender would lock the team in to more than $13 million in cash and cap dollars. If the Panthers need cap space to do other business, one way to get it would be to sign Short to a long-term deal. After the tender is signed, they can’t grab cap space by revoking the tender.
All of this assumes that the tag will indeed be applied to Short. During Super Bowl week, coach Ron Rivera suggested that the tag probably will be applied to Short.
For now, it’s too early to know whether he probably would or probably wouldn’t sign it. We’ll all definitely know at some point after the tag is applied.