Stupid Question

[Justice Hog]

Once a team "franchises" a player, can they later "un-franchise" him to facilitate a trade?

Just wondering.

[cvillehog]

Once a team "franchises" a player, can they later "un-franchise" him to facilitate a trade?

Just wondering.

My understanding is that the Franchise tag is just a kind of one-year contract that has its value set by the top ten salaries of that position in the league. The Transition tag is set to, I think, the top 20. At any rate, being Franchised facilitates a trade because the contract is usually pretty basic and has no onerous clauses or poison pills of any kind. I would imagine that most Franchised players that are traded negotiate and agree to a long-term deal with the team they are traded to, just like most traded players. Unless you're TO, then you just throw a hissy fit to get what you want.

[1niksder]

Once a team "franchises" a player, can they later "un-franchise" him to facilitate a trade?

Just wondering.

Most times, the transition and franchise tag is used by a team to buy time while a long-team contract is being negotiated. If the player is designated a transition or franchise player and signed immediately to a long term contract, then he retains the tag for the duration of the contract and the team may not use the transition or franchise tag on another player until the contract is done. So what teams invariably do is negotiate a long term contract. When the new contract is agreed, then the player signs his transition or franchise contract, locking up the tag for a year. Then the player signs the long team contract the next day, which voids the one year contract and frees up the transition / franchise tag for use on another player. In the event a player retires, suffers a career-ending injury or is otherwise unavailable due to non-football circumstances, a club has the right to designate another franchise or transition player for the remaining years covered by the club's prior designation.

A club may withdraw a franchise or transition designation at any time. The player becomes an unrestricted free agent when that withdrawal occurs, and the team can use one of the designations on another player at the appropriate time

Football 101 is a pretty good source when you are Just wondering

[1niksder]

The Vikings did it today.

Not only did the remove the tag but they also took the 1 year tender off the table - making CB Brian Williams a UFA