The two-week window for NFL teams to use the franchise tag opened Tuesday, but the Detroit Lions will not be needing the device for the fifth straight year.
The Lions have 15 players who will be unrestricted free agents when the 2023 league year opens March 15, including starters DJ Chark, Jamaal Williams and Alex Anzalone.
General manager Brad Holmes said after the season he planned to stick with the same offseason approach he has used the past two seasons of trying to retain his top players, while being “very strategic and selective” with additions from other teams.
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“Regardless of how many resources you have, how much money you can spend, we always are very selective and strategic with how we go about free agency,” Holmes said in his end-of-season news conference. “And that’s upcoming UFAs (unrestricted free agents) that are on our team as well as external adds, but it’s always going to be the same approach and I think we’ve kind of proven that.”
The Lions could ensure Chark, Williams, Anzalone or any of their other top free agents return by using one of two tags available to teams through the collective bargaining agreement.
The franchise tag is a one-year tender of the average of the top five salaries at the player’s position from the past five years. Players still can negotiate with other teams, but the tagging team has the right to match any contract or receive two first-round draft picks as compensation. If a team uses the exclusive franchise tag, the compensation goes up and the player has no ability to negotiate elsewhere.
The transition tag is a one-year tender of the average of the top 10 salaries at the position. The tagging team has the right to match any contact offer a player receives elsewhere, but does not receive compensation if the player leaves.
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Chark, widely considered the Lions’ top free agent, caught 30 passes for 502 yards and three touchdowns last season while playing on a one-year, $10 million deal. The franchise tag for receivers is $19.7 million.
Williams had a career-high 1,066 yards rushing and led the NFL with 17 rushing touchdowns, and Anzalone had a team-leading and career-high 125 tackles.
The franchise tag is $10.1 million for running backs and $20.9 million for linebackers.
The Lions’ other free agents include rotational defensive linemen John Cominsky and Isaiah Buggs, interior offensive lineman Evan Brown, safety DeShon Elliott and special teams standout Josh Woods.
Among the teams with tag decisions to make that will impact the free agent market:
• Baltimore Ravens are expected to tag quarterback Lamar Jackson if the two sides do not reach agreement on a new contract.
• New York Giants could tag either running back Saquon Barkley or quarterback Daniel Jones, absent new deals.
• Running backs Josh Jacobs (Las Vegas Raiders) and Tony Pollard (Dallas Cowboys), and defensive linemen Daron Payne (Washington Commanders), Javon Hargrave (Philadelphia Eagles) and Dre’Mont Jones (Denver Broncos) are tag candidates, which could drive up the market for players like Williams and Cominsky and dry out options to upgrade for the Lions in free agency.
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The Lions last used the franchise tag on Ziggy Ansah in 2018.
This year’s tag deadline ends March 7.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.