Why Minnesota Vikings Are Unlikely to Use Franchise Tag
The window for every NFL team to utilize the franchise tag to retain an impending free agent officially began on February 16 and will end on March 2. However, it is extremely unlikely that the Minnesota Vikings will make use of this capability.
Simply put, the franchise tag is a last-ditch effort teams use to maintain the services of an unrestricted free agent set to test the open market. If a given team chooses to employ its one franchise tag, this team must pay the tagged player the average salary of the top five players at his position or 120 percent of his salary from the previous season, contingent on which figure is higher.
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| Position | Average Salary |
| Quarterback | $18.51 Million |
| Running Back | $10.93 Million |
| Wide Receiver | $12.80 Million |
| Tight End | $8.33 Million |
| Offensive Line | $12.93 Million |
| Defensive Tackle | $11.17 Million |
| Defensive End | $14.78 Million |
| Linebacker | $13.17 Million |
| Cornerback | $13.05 Million |
| Safety | $9.60 Million |
| Kicker/Punter | $4.12 Million |
Since the franchise tag was introduced back in 2007, Minnesota has used the designation just one time. Minnesota placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on Chad Greenway back in 2011 but would ultimately sign him to a five-year contract extension later that same year.
Although it is a small sample size, this one instance of usage suggests that Minnesota uses the franchise tag as a placeholder to bide time until a contract extension can be reached.
Both in name and rules for usage, the franchise tag inherently is meant for elite players. This isn't always the case—the Washington Redskins, for example, used it on tight end Fred Davis back in 2012—but players receiving the franchise tag frequently reflect the definition of the term "franchise player" and are deserving of a top-five positional salary.
Thirteen players from Minnesota's 2014 roster are impending free agents, and as a result, they are eligible for franchise tag designation:
| Player | Position | 2014 Cap Hit |
| Christian Ponder | QB | $3,232,313 |
| Jerome Felton | FB | $2,127,452 |
| Corey Wootton | DT/DE | $1,700,000 |
| Cullen Loeffler | LS | $1,270,000 |
| Tom Johnson | DT/DE | $845,000 |
| Jasper Brinkley | ILB | $830,000 |
| Vladimir Ducasse | OG | $635,000 |
| Joe Berger | OG/C | $635,000 |
| Mike Harris | OT | $570,000 |
| Dom DeCicco | ILB | $570,000 |
| Matt Asiata | RB | $570,000 |
| Josh Samuda | C | $318,000 |
| Ross Homan | OLB | - |
Multiple players on this list played a (relatively) significant role for the Vikings in 2014. However, not one Vikings impending free agent is worth a top-five positional salary, and only Tom Johnson is valuable enough to warrant (little) consideration.
According to Pro Football Focus, the 30-year-old Johnson received a plus-5.2 cumulative rating, which ranked 23rd among defensive tackles in 2014. In addition, his six sacks were tied for 10th at his position while his 444 snaps ranked 46th.
Per the top-five average salary chart above, Minnesota would be obligated to pay Johnson a 2015 salary of $11.17 million—more than a 1,200 percent increase from his 2014 salary—due to franchise tag requirements. Given that this figure would blow the 2015 salaries of starting defensive tackles Linval Joseph ($4.6 million) and Sharrif Floyd ($2.2 million) completely out of the water, it does not make financial sense to employ the franchise tag on Johnson.
Minnesota would almost certainly be happy to guarantee Johnson's presence on its 2015 roster, but this security isn't worth paying him a top-five defensive tackle salary. Besides, the Vikings could surely return Johnson at a significantly smaller cap figure since he has already expressed interest in re-signing on a multiyear contract, per Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Matt Asiata, Joe Berger, Jasper Brinkley and Vladimir Ducasse are the only impending free agents other than Johnson valuable enough to even consider re-signing. But, again, there isn't a player in this group necessary enough to Minnesota's future to require the usage of the franchise tag.
Nobody in the Vikings organization has confirmed that the franchise tag will not be used, but barring something implausible, Minnesota appears to be a very unlikely candidate to utilize this capability.
Salary cap information courtesy of Spotrac.com.
For more Vikings news and analysis, find me on Twitter @RobertReidell.
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