Franchise Tag News and Notes Around the AFC North

The deadline for teams to use the franchise tag on one of their players is this coming Monday, March 5. All four teams in the AFC North have players they could franchise, but with the league slowly coming out of scouting combine mode back into focusing on free agency, talk of the tag is just now starting to come back to the forefront.

In Baltimore, the Ravens could use the tag on either running back Ray Rice or offensive guard Ben Grubbs, but it's looking ever more likely that Rice will get the tag while Grubbs will be allowed to test the free agency market before agreeing to a deal.

At one point, the Ravens said they were set to offer Grubbs a great deal of money to remain with the franchise, but talks have since broken down.

Grubbs' agent Pat Dye, speaking to the Baltimore Sun, says that Grubbs would like to "explore all his options," as he's in the prime of his career and may not have another opportunity to receive a high-paying, long-term deal.

While this doesn't necessarily mean that the Ravens should expect to be without Grubbs' services in 2012, it also means they need to plan for a future without him. Baltimore already needs to bolster its offensive line, likely through the draft, and it's quite possible that a replacement for Grubbs is on the short list of priorities.

Instead, look for Baltimore to use the franchise tag on Rice. Rice's agent, Todd France, spoke with Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times at the Scouting Combine and said that he "knows the tag is coming" if no deal is reached before March 5.

With the tag, Rice will make $7.7 million in 2012; however, being designated the team's franchise player doesn't mean a deal won't be struck in the coming weeks or months. The tag buys both sides time and keeps Rice out of the open market while negotiations can continue.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, who are still right up against the salary cap at this writing, won't likely use the franchise tag on any player, including wide receiver Mike Wallace.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette even went so far as to say today that the Steelers shouldn't franchise Wallace even if they could afford to, citing that the $9.4 million tag number would necessitate the team paying him that amount or more per year in a long-term deal.

With fellow receivers Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders headed for free agency in 2013, a deal that pricey with Wallace now would hinder the team's efforts to keep one or both of the two next season.

Instead, Bouchette argues, the Steelers should use the $3.7 million first-round restricted free agent tender on Wallace, hope that no other team makes him an offer and then try to negotiate a more reasonable deal that both satisfies Wallace and keeps the team out of too much financial trouble in 2013.

While not franchising Wallace is a gamble, it appears to be more worthwhile to do so than to overpay Wallace this year and jeopardize the statuses of two other, desirable receivers next year.

In Cleveland, the two top candidates for the franchise tag are kicker Phil Dawson and running back Peyton Hillis. However, the Browns have used the tag just once since 1999—last year on Dawson—and Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer doesn't believe either player will get the tag this year.

The Browns don't necessarily have to tag Hillis (or Dawson) by March 5 to keep them; they have until the start of free agency on the 13th to continue negotiations, and that's likely what the team will try to do in the coming days.

Talks between the Browns and Hillis broke down during the 2011 season, and Hillis' dissatisfaction with the process began whispers that the team would rather part ways with the disgruntled player rather than sign him to a new deal.

His uptick in performance at the end of the regular season brought the team back around to him, however, and they're seemingly willing to extend his time in Cleveland, but potentially at a pay rate unsatisfactory to Hillis.

Hillis' status with the Browns is a major indicator as to what the team will ultimately do with the No. 4 overall pick in this year's draft; if Hillis remains with the team, then it may shop its two first-round picks to move up to No. 2 and draft quarterback Robert Griffin III, but if he doesn't, the Browns may take running back Trent Richardson fourth.

The Cincinnati Bengals have a great deal of cap space to work with this offseason and they generally do not like to use the franchise tag, so there's little chance any of their players will get franchised prior to the March 5 deadline.

The top candidate for the tag would be kicker Mike Nugent. Franchising a kicker will cost around $2.6 million this year, and the Bengals would likely do so in lieu of negotiating a new deal with him.

If Nugent doesn't get the tag, the team could use it on safety Reggie Nelson, who is a top free agent target for the Miami Dolphins. However, the tag for safeties is $6.5 million this year—a steep price for even as talented a player as Nelson.

ESPN's Jamison Hensley notes that the Washington Redskins won't even use the franchise tag on their soon-to-be free agent safety LaRon Landry because of the high cost, so it doesn't look like the Bengals will use it on Nelson.

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