After pushing the franchise tag deadline back two days to Thursday, March 12 last month, the NFL and NFL Players Association have decided to push the deadline back once again. Per ESPN insider Adam Schefter, the deadline will now fall on Monday, March 16 (11:59 AM EST), which is the same day that the legal tampering period begins.
This news comes after the NFLPA decided to push back the voting deadline towards accepting or declining the new proposed Collective Bargaining Agreement from the NFL and its owners on Monday. Instead of it being on Thursday as originally planned, the deadline will now fall on Saturday, March 14. There have been players to come out and publicly support the new labor deal, while others have voiced their displeasure for it, so the extended time will hopefully lead to some cohesion.
As pointed out by Pro Football Talk, this move makes sense with the players still deciding on how they will vote because a new CBA could change the rules for pending free-agents. A prime example is the situation unfolding with the Dallas Cowboys, who have two notable stars who want new deals in quarterback Dak Prescott and receiver Amari Cooper. Under the current CBA, teams have the ability to use both the franchise and transition tags in 2020 and that would be handy for Jerry Jones to keep both off the open market.
As many are aware, the Jags elected to use their franchise tag on defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, who came out to say he didn’t want a long-term deal with the Jags last week.
As mentioned above, the legal tampering period is scheduled to begin directly after the franchise tag deadline. The new league year and free-agency will begin a few days later on Wednesday, March 18 at 4 p.m. ET.
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