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Frisco, Texas — The NFL offseason is now in full swing, which means free agency is right around the corner. Legal tampering is scheduled to begin on March 11th. But it also means it's time for the Dallas Cowboys and every other team in the league to decide if they have anyone on their roster they think is worth using the franchise tag for the 2024 season. To do.
The period to apply the tag officially begins today, February 20th, and ends on March 5th at 4:00 PM ET, with the new league year beginning on March 13th.
The question in Dallas is simple. Who gets tagged? The answer is probably no one.
The Cowboys currently have a total of 16 players eligible for free agency, but unless one of them is signed to a new contract, none of them will receive a high-paying, fully guaranteed franchise contract this time around. I didn't expect that to happen. Most recently, running back Tony Pollard received the tag (2023) at a cost of $10.1 million against the cap.
Placing the tag on him a second time would cost the Cowboys about $12.12 million in 2024 (120% of his 2023 salary), again with all of that guaranteed. That's an expensive tab considering the other options available to head coach Mike McCarthy this time around — after parting ways with Ezekiel Elliott, he and the offense have placed almost all of their running back expectations on Pollard. The situation is very different from a year ago. .
History also works against Pollard in the conversation surrounding a second tag. That's not to say the Cowboys haven't done it in the past or even recently, but the tactic has only been used against key players.
The only players to team up in consecutive seasons were DeMarcus Lawrence (2018, 2019) and Dak Prescott (2020, 2021), and neither played in a second team.
Let's take a quick look at every player tagged with the Cowboys since the turn of the century.
- 2002 – Frozell Adams
- 2008 – Ken Hamlin
- year 2012 – Anthony Spencer
- 2013 – Anthony Spencer
- 2015 – Dez Bryant
- 2018 – DeMarcus Lawrence
- 2019 – Demarcus Lawrence
- 2020 – Dak Prescott
- 2021 – Dak Prescott
- 2022 – Dalton Schultz
- 2023 – Tony Pollard
As you can see, it's not like the Cowboys want to refuse to use it at all. So there are time gaps from Adams to Hamlin, Hamlin to Spencer, Spencer to Bryant, and Bryant to Lawrence. It wasn't until 2018 that owner/general manager Jerry Jones began exercising that right annually, and as mentioned above, four of those six uses went to Lawrence and Prescott. And all six make sense depending on the year they were used.
I don't think the Cowboys are in a dire situation with players heading to free agency at any position on their current roster.
Let's take a look at the list of players who could leave in March.
- Stephon Gilmore, CB
- Jordan Lewis, CB
- Jaylon Kearse, S
- CJ Goodwin, CB
- Noah Igbinoghene, CB
- Tyron Smith, OT
- Chuuma Eduga, OT
- Tyler Biardash, C
- Tony Pollard, RB
- Rico Doodle, RB (restricted free agent)
- Dorrance Armstrong Jr., Delaware
- Dante Fowler Jr., Delaware
- Jonathan Hankins, DT
- Neville Gallimore, DT
This isn't to say there aren't players worth re-signing. That's because some players definitely deserve to be re-signed (e.g., Jordan Lewis, Dorrance Armstrong, Stephon Gilmore, Jonathan Hankins, etc.). But that means the Cowboys are unlikely to re-sign him. If they feel they have no options at each position (through cheaper acquisitions internally and/or externally), they would commit to a fully guaranteed franchise tag.
On a related side note, the fact that Dowdle is a restricted free agent means that while he is allowed to negotiate with other teams, the Cowboys put out a tender on him and are keeping him until 2024. This means that if you receive an offer to stay, you can acknowledge or allow the right to refuse first. Even more ambitiously, instead of paying him nothing, he could apply either a first-round or second-round bid and receive either as compensation if he chooses not to accept an outside offer. is.
Spoiler: The latter two options wouldn't work here for the undrafted Dowdle. He has certainly had three seasons and has certainly shown performance ability, but his first three years were limited by both injuries and number of appearances. Years in the league.
Returning to the topic of tags, you may be wondering (I feel like I'm asking you telepathically) what harm tagging certain positions would do.So, the 2024 NFL salary cap is set. The expected payment amount before the payment is made via Overthecap.com. It's official, and it's going to happen any second now.
- QB: $36.3 million
- lb: $22.8 million
- DT: $20.9 million
- W.R.: $20.7 million
- D.E.: $20.2 million
- OL: $19.9 million
- C.B.: $18.8 million
- S: $16.2 million
- T.E.: $12.1 million
- R.B.: $11.3 million (note: this is the first tag amount, not the second amount)
- ST: 5.7 million dollars
Yeah, you probably understand what I wrote here.
Finally, for general bookkeeping purposes, a quick lesson on the difference between exclusive and non-exclusive franchise tags.
Exclusive tag means the player is not allowed to negotiate with other teams (e.g. Dak Prescott's continuous tag type). However, while the non-exclusive tag allows for negotiations with other clubs, a player cannot leave outright unless the Cowboys have an option that matches the highest offer, and if they do not choose that option. In that case, you will receive 2 pieces first. Round picks from other teams.
It is highly unlikely that another club would be willing to part with two first-round picks for any of the Cowboys' pending free agents, and again, this option is not available until 2024. becomes almost meaningless.
And then there's the aforementioned transition tag, although it's used much less frequently, which is similar to the non-exclusive tag, in which if the Cowboys don't match the highest offer, the player can negotiate with another team. You can leave, but Dallas won't comply. You will be compensated if that happens. However, transition tags are cheaper due to the increased risk of losing players.
Tags can only be used once per team per year, but can be revoked once assigned if the organization sees fit.
Understanding the process of tagging players: Why this year will be the first year since 2016 that the Cowboys will completely abandon tagging and instead negotiate all players the old-fashioned way in 2024 It should be clearer whether the possibility is high or not.
It makes more sense to do so.
