A franchise tag is NOT a placeholder. The amount immediately counts against out cap. Onwenu will simply sign it and guarantee his $20M. He will have little incentive to sign a long term deal. Even if he does, the $20M for one year is sort of baked into any deal. If Onwenu is "worth" $16M AAV on the open market, is he worth that to us as a RT? Or should we simply sign another free agent.
FOR ME
I don't expect us to sign a long-tern deal with Onwenu. His agent will get him more elsewhere. The question is whether we are willing to pay him $20M for one year, while we our new rookie OT's develop. Given just how much we are screwed at OT, I could see us franchising him if we can't sign a starting free agent and a swing OT in free agency. The 2nd OT starter would be our 2nd draft pick. If we can't get a decent starter in free agency, I could see us franchising Onwenu. Unfortunately, the franchise decision comes before free agency starts.