With there being a lot of talk the last few weeks about how far apart the Tennessee Titans and Cortland Finnegan are on a new deal, it has seemed like he is simply going to be let go and find a new team. Unlike the situation with the Detroit Lions and Cliff Avril, there has been no indication that the Titans will simply put the franchise tag on Finnegan if a new deal can't be reached. According to Jason La Canfora, however, that is exactly what the Titans are likely to do.
Just as I was about to post this, Adam Schefter tweeted completely different news about the Titans and Finnegan, and it seems more credible:
Titans will not place their franchise tag on cornerback Cortland Finnegan, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 2, 2012
The Lions probably don't have the cap room to afford Finnegan if he does hit the open market, but Jim Schwartz didn't rule anybody out last week when he was asked about Finnegan at the NFL Combine. He couldn't address Finnegan specifically in order to avoid tampering charges, but he said that the Lions have not "discounted any player or person." He hinted that if a player (like Finnegan) fits their scheme, they will be given a look.
If Schefter turns out to be wrong and Finnegan does receive the franchise tag, the value of cornerbacks on the open market like Brandon Carr will go up. For now, though, it appears Finnegan will be a free agent, so much of what I had planned on writing about the value of other corners going up appears to be moot.