The deadline to apply the franchise tag is on March 10, just eight days before the new league year and free agency begins in the NFL.
While the period to apply the franchise tag, as well as the transition tag, opened on Feb. 25, the Houston Texans haven’t made any moves thus far. According to Nate Davis of USA TODAY, don’t expect them to tag any one of their free agents, including defensive tackle D.J. Reader.
Houston Texans: Now officially the general manager, Bill O’Brien made several short-sighted deals last year. RBs Lamar Miller and Carlos Hyde aren’t worthy of tags, so better for O’Brien to focus on extending LT Laremy Tunsil rather than having to franchise him in 2021.
Currently, teams have both the transition and franchise tags available because of a stipulation that allows such use in the final year of the 2011 collective bargaining agreement. However, as soon as the new collective bargaining agreement is ratified, a team that chose to use two tags would have to relinquish one of them, exposing a prized free agent to the open market.
The Texans seem to be content to let their free agents test the market rather than using any of the tags.
