Will we use the tag?

[Joey007]

I think it might be wise to tag Owenhu with the idea of using that to work toward a long-term deal. He's the kind of guy who offers a lot of flexibility of position and is the homegrown talent we should be rewarding.

This is my thinking. Obviously the tag is an overpay for Onwenu. But it’s better than overpaying him immediately on a long term contract.

You have excess funds this year, tagging him won’t prevent you from making plenty of other moves in the market by any stretch. Either let Onwenu play on the tag and see if he plays at a level worth an extension, or see if we have confidence in a rookie draft pick this year replacing him in 25.

 

[Joey007]

I think people against the Onwenu tag are too wrapped up in the cap hit. It’s more about the flexibility it gives us, as well as an insurance policy at tackle.

 

[mike_usagisan]

I think people against the Onwenu tag are too wrapped up in the cap hit. It’s more about the flexibility it gives us, as well as an insurance policy at tackle.

I think the too few tackles on the FA market and the need for them by a lot of teams is going to mean that the cap hit for a tackle is going to go up.

 

[Patriot Missile]

If they bring in the new Qb he’s already coming into a tough situation. Why make it tougher? Tag Onwenu.

 

[Guts]

I think people against the Onwenu tag are too wrapped up in the cap hit. It’s more about the flexibility it gives us, as well as an insurance policy at tackle.

I don't want a Joe Thuney situation again either.

 

[mgteich]

I don't want a Joe Thuney situation again either.

You mean because Thuney succeeded elsewhere?

 

[Joey007]

I think the too few tackles on the FA market and the need for them by a lot of teams is going to mean that the cap hit for a tackle is going to go up.

Which means you give him the tag before the market completely explodes and a team hands him something crazy (see Jawaan Taylor’s contract last year)

 

[mgteich]

I would use the tag on Onwenu. If he signs a long-term deal as a RG fine; if not we have a solid RT for one year.
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Realistically, it will be difficult to get the 3 OT's we need for 2024: 2 starters and a quality swing OT. I would hope to draft a 3rd or 4th rounder who could start in 2025, and perhaps help even this year.

As an aside the IOL isn't really set. Strange may or may not come back. I'm not ready to count on Mafi with no backup OG.
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Given our cap situation, "overpaying" Onwenu for one year is fine with me. To be clear, we will NOT trade him if we can't negotiate a long-term deal.

 

[stinkypete]

That cap space would be better served extending Barmore so we don't have to tag him next year

 

[venecol]

So we have 3 major candidates for the tag:

Onwenu
Henry
Dugger

Here are spotrac’s projection for positional value.

Projected 2024 Franchise Tag Candidates

If those numbers hold up, there’s no way you can use it on Dugger at 16 million for safety. Would be a major overpay at a position that’ll be rich on the market.

But Henry and Onwenu are interesting situations. Both would be overpays for their tag (12 mill, 19 mill respectively) but also play at positions that are pretty sparse in free agency. Would it be smart to bite the bullet on the overpay and tag one of these guys? It not only prevents a bidding war, but also leads to not committing to either long term.

We have loads of cap space this year, so this would be a year to do something like this.

No

 

[VJCPatriot]

Yeah, the tag is a minimum 20% raise, or $18.6M for Henry.

Ouch. No thanks to Henry for 18.6mm.

Here's an idea, why don't we identify who we need to keep and offer them a reasonable contract extension?

I know BB was averse to this basic concept but he's no longer running the show.

 

[farn]

I’d be fine moving on. Those players, while fine, aren’t game changers.

 

[Joey007]

That cap space would be better served extending Barmore so we don't have to tag him next year

You realize we will have plenty of cap to do multiple moves, right?