Wide receiver Jarvis Landry, who led the NFL with 112 receptions in 2017, has received the non-exclusive franchise tag from the Miami Dolphins. The thinking, according to a source, is the Dolphins want to keep a player they’ve drafted and developed.
Salary projections for wide receivers with the 2018 franchise tag are in the $16 million range.
The Dolphins would work with the Landry to sign a multi-year deal, the source said, and added the $16 million one-year salary under the franchise tag would be similar to Landry’s first-year salary cap hit on a multi-year deal.
Today was the first day teams could the franchise or transition tags on players. NFL teams have until 4 p.m. on March 6 -- two weeks from today -- to put the franchise or transition tag on a player.
Players who get the tag have until 4 p.m. July 16 to sign a long-term deal. After that date they must sign a one-year deal and can’t sign an extension until the conclusion of their final regular season game.
The official franchise and transition tag numbers will be announced when the salary cap is announced, which is typically early March.
Landry just completed the final season of his four-year rookie deal. The 112 receptions were a franchise single-season record. Landry also had 987 yards and a career-best nine touchdowns.
Many consider Landry, who averaged a career-low 8.8 yards per reception, a slot receiver, which would mean he shouldn’t command as much money as an outside receiver.
Landry’s agent, Damarius Bilbo, addressed that situation last month.
“With all this, ‘What type of receiver is he — slot or outside?’ — or all this, he’s a No. 1 receiver,” Bilbo said. “He’s a No. 1 receiver.
“No matter what you classify him as, or how you use him in that offense, he’s a No.1 receiver. …So at the end of the day Jarvis understands his value and he wants to be compensated as such.”
There are two types of franchise tag, the exclusive and non-exclusive.
The exclusive franchise tag pays a player a one-year salary of the average of the top five salaries at his position over the current year, or 120 percent of his current salary, whichever is greater.
Players can’t negotiate with other teams after getting the exclusive franchise tag.
The non-exclusive franchise tag, which Landry is expected to get, pays a player a one-year salary of the average of the top five salaries at his position over the last five years, or 120 percent of his current salary, whichever is greater.
The non-exclusive franchise tag means the player can negotiate with another team and sign an offer sheet. The current team has the right to match any offer. If the player leaves, it’ll cost his new team two first-round picks as compensation.
The transition tag pays a player a one-year salary of the average of the top 10 salaries at his position, or 120 percent of his current salary, whichever is greater.
The transition tag allows players to negotiate with other teams and sign an offer sheet. But if they sign elsewhere the current team gets no compensation.
In 2017, the NFL salary cap was $167 million with the franchise tag for wide receivers at $15.682 million, and the transition tag for wide receivers at $13.129 million.
Teams can rescind the franchise or transition, such as the Dolphins did with defensive end Olivier Vernon after giving him the transition tag in 2016. The transition tag, which would have paid Vernon about $12.7 million, allowed the Dolphins to gauge the market.
Once the Dolphins saw the offers for Vernon were more than they were willing to pay, they signed defensive end Mario Williams and rescinded the tag on Vernon, making him an unrestricted free agent. Vernon eventually signed a five-year, $85 million contract with the New York Giants with a whopping $40 million fully guaranteed.
The free-agent market for wide receivers is a bit murky. Landry, Sammy Watkins of the Los Angeles Rams and Allen Robinson of the Jacksonville Jaguars are at the top of the list. John Brown of the Arizona Cardinals would probably be next.
Watkins and Robinson seem prime candidates to get the franchise tag.
Landry told NFL.com during last month’s Pro Bowl that negotiations with the Dolphins were “moving slowly.”
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