Several teams have placed the franchise tag on players today in order to get it out of the way before the weekend. While the deadline to designate the franchise tag isn't until Monday, many teams are doing it now so it's over and done with before the week comes to an end.
So far, the Detroit Lions are not one of the teams that have given out their franchise tag. It's very possible it will be placed on Cliff Avril in the next few days, but for now the Lions are continuing to negotiate with him on a long-term deal, according to Jason La Canfora.
Oh, and Lions still working on a longer term deal with DL Cliff Avril but prepared to franchise him if need be. Deadline is Monday afternoon
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) March 2, 2012
The best-case scenario would be for the Lions and Avril to agree on a long-term deal before the franchise tag has to be entered into the equation. That would give them the opportunity to use it on someone like Stephen Tulloch, and it would mean that they have locked up Avril to a long-term contract.