Since the post earlier this week about which players have received franchise or transition tags, two more have been franchised: Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley and Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali. Both players received the non-exclusive version of the franchise tag, meaning Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning still are the only ones who received the exclusive franchise tag. (The difference between the two versions of the franchise tag is explained after the jump.)
Adding Woodley and Hali to the list of franchise players means it now looks like this:
- QB Peyton Manning - Indianapolis Colts (Exclusive)
- QB Michael Vick - Philadelphia Eagles (Exclusive)
- WR Vincent Jackson - San Diego Chargers (Non-Exclusive)
- OG Logan Mankins - New England Patriots (Non-Exclusive)
- DT Haloti Ngata - Baltimore Ravens (Non-Exclusive)
- LB David Harris - New York Jets (Non-Exclusive)
- LB LaMarr Woodley - Pittsburgh Steelers (Non-Exclusive)
- LB Tamba Hali - Kansas City Chiefs (Non-Exclusive)
In addition to these eight players, Eagles kicker David Akers received the transition tag.
The difference between an exclusive and non-exclusive franchise tag is pretty simple. An exclusive franchise tag results in a one-year contract offer that is worth whichever number is greater: the average of the top five salaries at the player's position as of April this year or an increase in salary of 120 percent from the previous year. A non-exclusive franchise tag is basically the same thing. The main difference with the contract is that the average of the top five salaries at the player's position is from the previous year.
Where the variations get their names is from how much freedom the player has to negotiate with other teams. With the exclusive franchise tag, as you might imagine, the player can only negotiate a contract with the team that applied the tag. A non-exclusive franchise tag, however, gives the player the freedom to negotiate with other teams and sign an offer sheet. The team that placed the tag on him has the ability to match any offer made, but if it decides not to, it will receive two first-round picks from the player's new team.