It’s been a long time since the San Francisco 49ers used the franchise tag on a player. 2012, in fact, when the team tagged former Niners safety Dashon Goldson, who eventually left in 2013.
Heading into 2018, general manager John Lynch and Co. have some tough decisions on their hands regarding how they want to handle the list of pending free agents. Among the players, three stand out as potential candidates to receive a franchise tag — running back Carlos Hyde, safety Eric Reid and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
With the ability to tag just one player, Reid should be the guy San Francisco tags.