http://blogs.nfl.com/2009/02/13/koenen-signs-franchise-tender/ Shortly after Atlanta slapped its franchise tag on punter Michael Koenen, he wasted no time signing it. Koenen signed his $2.48 million franchise tender, making him the second franchise player to sign. The first was New England quarterback Matt Cassel. http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/...etwork&page=nfl/news/newstest.aspx?id=4212640 The Cincinnati Bengals placed the franchise tag on kicker Shayne Graham on Monday... There were rumors that wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh was going to get the franchise tag, but he will now become a free agent on February 27. ======== The kicker franchise tag is almost exactly the equivalent of the punter one. ~$2.5 million
why is my only question, you would rather sign your kicker to a one year deal at 2.5 than a 3 or 4 at 2?
T.J. said he would sit out the offseason workouts if he was tagged, he doesn't want to be there. I like the idea of not having two distractions during the offseason with your top two receivers begging to be let go but come one, how do you let a probowler like Housh walk without getting anything in return? The Bungles are back in force.
He´s a good guy, you still tag him, try to work out a deal, trade him whatever, but it´s just dump to let a player like him walk away without anything. The Bungals will probably get form the best recievingcorps in the League to one of the worst in 2 years. Wow!
What's wrong with it? Kickers are fickle. What looks good one year can suck the next. I think GMs are starting to realize that. If there's no one else they'd want to put the franchise tag on, why not give it to your punter or kicker rather than give him a multi-year deal at that price? I'm not saying don't give long-term contracts out because some guys deserve it, but I don't see a problem with it. And Housh is older and slow, and the Bengals have a few decent young receivers they would rather give a chance to than give TJ a big long-term deal. He's not a big play guy, like Chad Johnson and Chris Henry can be.
