The Los Angeles Rams are the only team in the NFL to use the franchise tag in each of the past three years, but that streak will almost certainly come to an end this year.
Rams general manager Les Snead said on Thursday at the NFL combine that the Rams “definitely” don’t expect to use the franchise tag this offseason, which would be the first time since 2015.
“At this point, you don’t plan on using it,” Snead told reporters.
There are only three players who could have potentially been tagged by the Rams: Dante Fowler Jr., Rodger Saffold and Lamarcus Joyner, who was tagged last year. While each player was important in 2018, none of them are worth the amount the franchise tag would pay them.
For Fowler, it’s projected to be north of $15 million. The franchise tag for a guard like Saffold is expected to be in the same range of $15.3 million. For Joyner, it would be more than $13.5 million after he was tagged last year.
With none of those three players expected to be tagged, they all could hit the open market in March. Snead indicated Thursday that Fowler and Joyner will probably reach free agency on March 13, suggesting they won’t sign extensions before then.
This news shouldn’t come as much of a surprise because free agency is just two weeks away. Rather than signing a deal now, Joyner, Fowler, Saffold and Ndamukong Suh would all prefer to see what the market has to offer, if only to drive up the price for the Rams and other teams.
