While the Detroit Lions stood pat as nearly always is the case, eight different franchises elected to use the franchise tag this week. There were plenty of rumors leading up to this deadline, but the list is now finalized: Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Allen (you know which one), Brian Burns, Justin Madubuike, Jaylon Johnson, L’Jarius Sneed, and Antoine Winfield Jr.
By definition, these are all productive players who have clear value to their teams. The franchise tag is something that has a material impact on teams’ salary cap constraints and therefore has added weight when a decide to use the franchise tag goes well.