The long-scheduled deadline for teams to apply the franchise and transition tags to pending free agent players has been Tuesday, March 9th at 4 p.m. ET. But some uncertainty with the 2021 salary cap could push the deadline back a couple of days.
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported on Monday that the failure of the league to determine the actual hard salary cap figure could impact the deadline.
“If the official salary cap number doesn’t come today and soon, NFL will have to move back the deadline to franchise tag players from Tuesday,” Rapoport tweeted early Monday. “It’s a situation several GMs are bracing for.”
One of those GMs is Detroit’s Brad Holmes, who has the potential to use the tag on either WR Kenny Golladay or DE Romeo Okwara. The Lions have a tight salary cap budget where every dollar is significant, so the lack of knowledge of the exact cap inhibits Holmes’ ability to make a proper decision. The Lions aren’t the only team in that boat, but it’s the most important boat for Detroit fans.
