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Tuesday is the first day NFL teams can use the franchise or transition tags on players eligible for free agency. It seems unlikely that the New York Giants will use the tag on anyone.
Below, a look at all of the Giants who be free agents when the league season opens on March 14.
Giants’ 2018 Free Agents
| PLAYER | POSITION | STATUS |
|---|---|---|
| PLAYER | POSITION | STATUS |
| Shane Vereen | RB | Signed with New Oreleans Saints |
| Justin Pugh | LG | Signed with Arizona Cardinals |
| Keenan Robinson | LB | Signed with Buffalo Bills |
| D.J. Fluker | RG | Signed with Seattle Seahawks |
| Jonathan Casillas | LB | UFA |
| Kerry Wynn | DE | Will re-sign with Giants |
| Weston Richburg | C | Signed with San Francisco 49ers |
| Geno Smith | QB | Signed with Los Angeles Chargers |
| Ross Cockrell | CB | Signed with Carolina Panthers |
| Orleans Darkwa | RB | UFA |
| John Greco | RG | Re-signed with Giants |
| Mark Herzlich | LB | Re-signed with Giants |
| Kelvin Sheppard | LB | UFA |
| Akeem Ayers | LB | UFA |
| Darryl Morris | CB | UFA |
| Jay Bromley | 43DT | Signed with New Orleans Saints |
| Tavarres King | WR | Signed with Minnesota Vikings |
| Deontae Skinner | LB | RFA (Waived by Giants) |
| Nat Berhe | S | Signed with Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Devon Kennard | LB | Signed with Detroit Lions |
| Robert Thomas | 43DT | ERFA (Re-signed with Giants) |
| Ryan O'Malley | TE | Re-signed with Giants |
| Brett Jones | C | RFA (Received second-round tender) |
| Jon Halapio | LG | Re-signed with Giants |
| Curtis Grant | ILB | ERFA (Not tendered) |
| Travis Rudolph | WR | ERFA (Received tender) |
The only Giants, in my view, who deserve even passing consideration of being tagged would be offensive linemen Justin Pugh and Weston Richburg. The cost against the salary cap of using the tag on either player, though, would seem to be prohibitive.
The tag value for offensive linemen is projected by Over The Cap to be $14.538 million. Consider Pugh a guard and using the tag would make him the highest-paid guard in the league in 2018. Kevin Zeitler of the Cleveland Browns is set to count $12.4 million against the cap. The same with Richburg. Among centers, Travis Frederick of the Dallas Cowboys will count $13.235 million against the cap in 2018. Making a tag for Richburg even more unlikely is that center Brett Jones is a restricted free agent and can be kept for far less money.
See the tables below for projected position-by-position costs of using the franchise or transition tags, and for the salary cap values of restricted free agent tenders.
2018 Franchise Tag Projections
| Position | Franchise Tag | Transition Tag |
|---|---|---|
| Position | Franchise Tag | Transition Tag |
| QB | $23,090,000 | $20,861,000 |
| DE | $17,521,000 | $14,570,000 |
| WR | $16,228,000 | $14,034,000 |
| LB | $15,469,000 | $13,126,000 |
| CB | $14,877,000 | $12,898,000 |
| OL | $14,538,000 | $12,963,000 |
| DT | $14,529,000 | $11,698,000 |
| RB | $11,687,000 | $9,465,000 |
| S | $11,081,000 | $9,497,000 |
| TE | $10,360,000 | $8,576,000 |
| ST | $5,056,000 | $4,604,000 |
2018 RFA Tender Projections
| Type | Amount |
|---|---|
| Type | Amount |
| First Round | $4,152,000 |
| Second Round | $2,916,000 |
| Original Round | $1,908,000 |
Types of NFL franchise tags
The following definitions are via SB Nation:
Exclusive
Just what the name implies. The player is locked into his team and cannot negotiate with any other team during the free agency period.
Non-exclusive
The player is allowed to negotiate with other teams, but if a competing team makes a free agent offer, the original team has the right to match it. If they don’t match the offer, they get two first-round picks in compensation. In other words, this is basically a convoluted trade scenario.
Transition tag
Similar to the non-exclusive tag, except the player gets paid an average of the top 10 salaries at his position, rather than top five. Transition-tagged players are free to negotiate with other teams, but unlike non-exclusive players, the original team gets no compensation if it fails to match an offer.