The Franchise Tag Is The Devil: NFL Teams Must Stop Holding Their Stars Hostage

When the NFL and the Players Association established the franchise tag as part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement in 1993, no one involved understood the viciousness of the monster they had created.

The franchise tag was expected to be something that would temporarily keep a star player off the market while he and his team negotiated a new contract. It was supposed to keep great players in one uniform for their entire careers.

It has now become the equivalent to a violent hostage situation. It's a team taking out a multi-million dollar insurance policy, selfishly keeping one player in handcuffs because they have the salary cap space to afford the financial hit.

Being designated as a team's franchise player should be an honor. It should feel like a gift from your team as it's their way of telling you, "We love you, and we need you."

Now it's become a violent relationship with an abusive spouse who refuses to let you leave the house.

Since 2006, the number of players receiving the franchise tag has more than tripled. Most teams applying the tag to their players with expiring contracts eventually let their players walk, but at the risk of decreasing a man's value.

Let's be honest for a moment: How many players receiving the franchise tag are the actual faces of the franchise?

Teams with cap room and hopes of improving the talent on their rosters have no chance of acquiring these men. The asking price when attempting to barter for a franchise player is two first-round draft picks. That's hefty.

Players who are not the true faces of their franchise are being clutched with the tightest of death grips for the most selfish of reasons.

For all intents and purposes, the New England Patriots are still Tom Brady's team, correct?

All Matt Cassel is to the Patriots is an insurance policy — a very expensive insurance policy.

It's selfish and harmful to Cassel's career for the Patriots to put the franchise tag on him. No one would know who Cassel was unless Brady went down. Now that he's had a chance to prove himself, it's fair to hold him hostage and return him to the bench for one more year? If Brady is healthy in 2009, and Cassel is forced to ride the bench, what should he expect his value to be in 2010?

When one lists the Dallas Cowboys and their talented roster, how long will it take for Ken Hamlin to be named?

Let's try.

Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, Jason Witten, Marion Barber—we're not even up to the defense yet. DeMarcus Ware, Terrence Newman, Greg Ellis, and finally—Ken Hamlin.

And yet, he received the franchise tag from Dallas. He is the recipient of top money for one year, and we can make a legitimate argument that he's not even among the top at his position in the league. He's not even the top on his team.

The reasons for all of this are the same as anything else when money is involved: greed. All of this happens because the Cowboys can afford it, and because they're too scared to let a player walk away and receive his contract elsewhere to become another team's star.

Does anyone else see the cruelty in all of this? What becomes of the player if he's critically injured during a season where he's received the franchise tag?

His value drops, no one wants him, and he eventually washes out of the NFL. The team that thought highly enough to place the tag on him no longer has a commitment to a long-term contract at the end of the season.

A distinction needs to be made.

Is this player truly your franchise — or is he very important to your organization? Because if he's important, insulting him with a one-year temporary position and salary is detrimental to his career.

It's like saying, "I like you, but I don't love you." It's like stringing someone along with the idea of marriage, only to leave them at the first sign of something better.

Franchise tags should be reserved for franchise players. It's a guarantee that should belong to the men your organization cannot function without.

Otherwise, you're just holding great players captive with empty promises and no desire to commit.