Notes on the Franchise Designation

The Franchise Tag:

 

The Steelers haven�t used the franchise tag for years but with both Spike Burress and Kendrell Bell coming towards the close of their C$1 deals, it�s possible they will do so shortly. The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) rules; you can check if you:

 

• Go to NFLPA.org.

 

• Click on �active player� at the top of the page.

 

• When the second page comes up, click on <CBA complete>, on the left side.� That will display the CBA with a linked list of Articles in front.� Franchise and Transition Designations are covered under Article XX, pages 68-80.

 

Since reading the CBA will make your teeth sweat, here are a couple of excerpts relevant to the means by which a Club may make a franchise offer to any player:

 

 

� (i): A one year NFL Player Contract for the average of the five largest Prior Year Salaries for players at the position at which the Franchise Player played the most games during the prior League Year, or 120% of his Prior Year Salary, whichever is greater; if the Club extends the tender pursuant to this Subsection (c)(i), the player shall be permitted to negotiate a Player Contract with any Club as if he were a player subject to Section 5 below, except that Draft Choice Compensation of two first round draft selections shall be made with respect to such player in the event he signs with the New Club, and the Signing Period for such player shall be determined under Section 17 below; or

 

(ii): A one year NFL Player Contract for (1) the average of the five largest Salaries in Player Contracts for that League Year as of the end of the Restricted Free Agent Signing Period that League Year, as set forth in Article XIX (Veteran Free Agency), Section 2(h), for players at the position at which he played the most games during the prior League Year, or (2) the amount of the required tender under subsection (c)(i) above, whichever is greater.�

 

That seems simple enough, but it�s not.� That�s because the CBA defines salary uniquely for the purposes of this section.� That is, salary here is not the same term as is commonly understood.� See page 70, or believe this:

 

(e):� �For the purpose of this Article, �Salary� means the total of the Paragraph 5 Salary, roster and reporting bonuses, prorata portion of signing bonus, and other payments to players in compensation for the playing of professional football for the applicable year of the player�s most recently negotiated Player Contract, except for performance bonuses other than roster and reporting bonuses. Beginning with the 1994 League Year, Salary shall also include any un-repaid loans made, guaranteed or collateralized by a Team or its Team Affiliate to a player or Player Affiliate during or after the 1993 League Year.�

 

That definition approaches the term <cap hit> except that LTBE (likely to be earned) performance incentives are included in the cap, but are not part of the franchise calculation.� The case is similar for the <transition> tag except that the number is <top 10> not <top 5> salaries.��

�

Red Zone published these 2004 Franchise And Transition Tag Numbers.� RZ defines their terms thusly:

 

�An Exclusive Franchise player is offered a minimum of the average of the top five salaries at the player's position as of April 15, or 120% of the player's previous year's salary, whichever is greater. If the player is offered a minimum of the average of the top five salaries of last season at his position, he becomes a "non-exclusive" franchise player and can negotiate with other clubs. His old club can match a new club's offer or receive two first-round draft choices if it decides not to match��

 

and 

��A Transition player must be offered a minimum of the average of the top 10 salaries of last season at the player's position or 120% of the player's previous year's salary, whichever is greater. A transition player designation gives the club a first-refusal right to match within seven days an offer sheet given to the player by another club after his contract expires. If the club matches, it retains the player. If it does not match, it receives no compensation.�

 

Red Zone recasts that CBA legalese into English, which is good; however, RZ doesn�t properly define <salary> as the word is operative here, and that�s pretty sloppy.� Anyway, here are the 2004 numbers, listed in descending order:

 

�

Position	Franchise tag	Transition tag	Remarks
Quarterback	9,958,000	8,169,000
WR	7,229,000	6,420,000
O-linemen	7,021,000	6,012,000	Includes all OT, OG and OC; generally, OT set the number.
CB	6,801,000	5,698,000
DE	6,503,000	5,796,000
LB	5,834,000	5,063,000	OLB and MLB (ILB) are grouped together.
DT	5,613,000	4,561,000	Note that the DT position is separated from DE, even if the PS don�t make such a distinction.
RB	5,167,000	4,494,000
Safeties	4,113,000	3,578,000
TE	2,612,000	2,104,000
Punters/kickers	1,611,000	1,446,000

 

Proof, maybe:

 

The same source provides these figures for WR.� Here are the top 10, by cap hit (for 2003 towards establishing the 2004 F&T figures), the closest approximation.

 

Player	Cap Hit Per RZ	Remarks
Randy Moss	7,896,787
Marvin Harrison	7,709,590
Isaac Bruce	7,340,709
Terrell Owens	6,661,235	Traded this off-season
Joey Galloway	6,643,614	Traded this off-season
Top 5 average	7,250,387
Eric Moulds	6,325,000
Muhsin Mohammad	5,978,117
Jimmy Smith	5,688,627
Joe Horn	5,312,500
Keyshawn Johnson	5,177,542	Traded this off-season, for Galloway.
Top 10 average	6,473,372

 

These average figures are close, but do not match precisely, the franchise and transition figures noted above.� Presumably, that�s because some LTBE are included in some cap figures here.� Regardless, other indicators (base salary, total salary) are worthless as predictors.�

 

Summary:

 

Salary figures, as those are commonly understood, are not used in calculating the franchise and transition tags.� That is because the relevant CBA article defines the common word <salary> in uncommon fashion.� �Cap hit is a good approximation, or reasonable extrapolation but, to the extent that LTBE are included, will tend to skew high.� However, the error is slight: in the example above, 0.003 for the franchise designation and 0.009 for the transition tag.� Close enough.��

 

Acknowledgments:

 

Thanks to Cappy for pursuing the point; I�d be pleased if this piece clarifies some aspects of the issue.� Thanks to several others for purporting I�d made some previous efforts to provide the actual facts; I�d be pleased if this piece confirms your confidence or, well, at least doesn�t completely demolish that.