Did You Leave a Tag on That? Players Who Should/Shouldnt Get Franchised.

The deadline to place a franchise tag on a player is coming upon us quickly, and teams will be forced to make some decisions. There aren’t many big time players out their this year, but there are some who deserved to get the franchise tag. I will look at five guys who should receive it and five guys who could get it, but shouldn’t.

Before getting to the players, we are going to take a quick overview of what the franchise tag actually is. There are two different types the exclusive and non-exclusive. An exclusive franchise player must be offered a one-year contract for an amount no less than the average of the top-five salaries at the player's position as of a date in April of the current year in which the tag will apply, or 120 percent of the player's previous year's salary, whichever is greater. Exclusive franchise players cannot negotiate with other teams.

A non-exclusive franchise player must be offered a one-year contract for an amount no less than the average of the top-five salaries at the player's position in the previous year, or 120 percent of the player's previous year's salary, whichever is greater. A non-exclusive franchise player is allowed to negotiate with other NFL teams, but if he signs an offer sheet from another team, the original team has a right to match the terms of that offer, or if it does not match the offer and thus loses, the player is entitled to receive two first-round draft picks as compensation.

Now lets take a look at the five guys who deserve to get tagged.

1. Vince Wilfork

This one is a no-brainer for most people. Wilfork is one of if not the best nose tackles in the league today. The Patriots can’t let their best defensive players walk. He is coming off a year where he had 43 tackles and one forced fumble with no sacks. His numbers were down because he missed three games, but he is still a stud. He routinely takes up two blockers and is a handful for any offensive line.

2. Richard Seymour

Normally I wouldn’t be a fan of giving a 31-year-old defensive end a $12.398 million dollar contract, but the Raiders have to. Seymour’s tackle numbers were around his career average and his sacks were down but not far from his career average. The Raiders need to resign him because they gave up a first-round pick for him six months ago. If they let him walk it would be a terrible decision.

3. Aubrayo Franklin

Someone who I learned about while researching for this article, I decided he needed to be on the tag list. He is a good nose tackle on an up-and-coming team. This would be a tag for the future as they may just need some more time to negotiate a deal with him. They would also only have to pay him $7.003 this year. This year is his seventh year in the league, and he is coming off his second-best year in tackles (36) and his best year in sacks (2). It is hard to find a good nose tackle, and the 49ers have one already, so it makes sense for them to tag him and get him locked up on a long term deal.

4. Darren Sharper

Again another old player who normally I wouldn’t put on the must tag list, but you can’t deny that he is valuable to the Saints defense. They would only have to pat him $6.455 million under the franchise tag. He had a great year with 71 tackles half a sack and nine INTs(T-Career High) with three TDs and 15 passes defended. Not only is he still a great player, but he is also the heart and soul of this defense. There is no reason the Saints shouldn’t resign him, as they would be getting him at a reasonable price, and he is their heart and soul on D.

5. Elvis Dumervil

Dumervil had a great year but flew under the radar for most of the year. He led the league in sacks (17) by two-and-a-half sacks. 17 is also his career high by five sacks. He also had four forced fumbles to go along with the 17 sacks. The Broncos' defense was a much better unit in 2009, and he was a big reason why. They would be forced to pay him $9.860 million, but that’s a small price to pay to keep your best defensive player.

Now we are going to take a look at the five guys who shouldn’t get the tag.

1. Casey Hampton

I am a Pittsburgh Steeler fan and know how important Hampton is in the Steelers scheme, but it's time to part ways with him. The defense is getting old on the line, and we need to find a replacement for the aging nose tackle. I believe the Steelers have someone who can be good enough to be a one- or two-year stopgap, and they can draft someone this year and develop him. The main problem here is Casey’s age. He is 33 years old and would make $7.003 million. Also he does not want to get tagged and having a player on your team that is unhappy is never good. The Steelers should let Hampton walk and invest that money somewhere else.

2. Aaron Kampman

Kampman made a solid transition from the defensive end position to the linebacker spot last year. Despite that he hurt his ACL and really doesn’t want to be a linebacker. If they did resign him it would be for $9.680 million, then why give that to someone who doesn’t want to be in Green Bay? His ACL seems to be okay, but that is another reason not to give $9 million to him. His talents are better suited for a 4-3 defense, and the Packers can take the money and get a linebacker who is accustomed to a 3-4.

3. Kyle Orton

The surprising QB for the Broncos is worth a franchise but not at $16.405 million dollars. The Broncos don’t have much else at quarterback, but franchising Orton is not an option at all. He just simply isn’t worth that amount of money.

4. Jerome Harrison

The Browns don’t have much, and you don’t want to lose your best player on either side of the ball. I have no problem if he would get franchised as he would make $8.156 million, and it would give the Browns more time to negotiate with him. I don’t see it happening, as the Browns GM said he has doubts if Harrison can carry the load. If you're not sure about a player, you don’t hand him over $8 million dollars.

5. Vincent Jackson

They just don’t need to; they will already get draft picks if he is signed by someone else without the tag. He is a great WR, and the Chargers can’t lost him, but they already have it in place that they would get picks, so teams will more likely than not stay away from him.

So there is my list of the five guys who should/shouldn’t get signed. Some of these guys won’t have to worry about the tag, as they will get signed to a long term deal. For the others who do get the tag, let's hope that they go out and compete and wait for their turn to hit the free agent market and make the big money.