How soon could Seahawks fans see moves with NFL franchise tag?
Feb 19, 2019, 11:10 AM
Franchise tag or not, it will take a hefty sum for the Seahawks to keep Frank Clark. (AP)
(AP)
Tuesday marked the official start of the NFL’s franchise tag window, but 710 ESPN Seattle’s John Clayton isn’t expecting anything to get done right away, particularly with Seahawks’ defensive end Frank Clark.
Jim Moore: Franchise tag would be right choice with Frank Clark
“Not today,” Clayton said when asked whether Clark could be tagged. “Because you’ve got the two-week window that goes to March 5. So, you want to see if anybody can get a deal done. There’s going to be as many as 10 players that I think are going to get franchised, including three defensive ends, and I think Frank Clark will be one of those three defensive ends. But this is an interesting time now, because now you’ve got two weeks. You’ve got a little bit of time at the combine to see where the market’s going to go and if anything gets done. And I know there’s a lot of pressure on teams to try to get something done.”
The franchise tag cost for defensive ends should be just over $17 million, second only to the franchise tag cost for quarterbacks.
Teams will have until March 5 to use their franchise tag on pending free agents. The Seahawks have used the tag just once before in Pete Carroll’s tenure; that was on kicker Olindo Mare in 2010.
Alternatively the Seahawks could sign Clark to a long-term deal — though according to CBS Sports salary cap expert and former agent Joel Corry, there’s no real sense of urgency on Clark’s end to get that done.
“What happens if Trey Flowers isn’t franchised by New England and he’s the only one of these guys who is on the open market?” Corry told Clayton in early February. “He’ll attract a lot of interest. And what if he gets an outstanding deal? That’s going to be a barometer for all these guys. So there’s really no sense of urgency from the agent’s standpoint.”
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