Buyer's market for NFL free agents & franchise tags coming soon

by Ryan Van Bibber on Jan 27, 2011 4:34 PM CST in 2011 NFL offseason

Kevin Dockery of the St. Louis Rams is one of almost 500 potential free agents in the NFL this year, though not one of the more appealing free agents.

The NFL told the press today, as part of session designed to spin its message of just how woeful the current CBA is for owners, that it expects the franchise tag to be in use for teams starting in February. That's consistent to when it's been used in the past.

It's highly unlikely that the St. Louis Rams would need to use the franchise tag this year. Of the 12 players scheduled for free agency, none merit the kind of one-year cost tied to the highest paid players in the league at that player's position. Here's the list of UFAs:

WR Mark Clayton
CB Kevin Dockery
TE Daniel Fells
DT Gary Gibson
OG Adam Goldberg
DT Chris Hovan
TE Darcy Johnson
S Michael Lewis
WR Laurent Robinson
DT Clifton Ryan
TE Derek Schouman
OG Mark Setterstrom

Clayton and Goldberg make the most sense for the Rams to retain, but not at franchise value. Those 12 players will be among a bumper crop of 495 players scheduled to be free agents if the league goes back to the 4 years of experience rule for free agency under the old CBA. The unusual number of potential free agents is the result of the lapsed CBA in 2010 requiring players to have at least 6 years of experience, e.g. Oshiomogho Atogwe. Of those 495 potential free agents, 170 are starters and 70 are Pro Bowl players.

The good news there is that it's a buyer's market for free agents...if, if, if they can get a CBA deal done in time.

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Jason LaCanfora dropped the ultimate wrap-up today

If you haven’t been paying any attention to the CBA, JLC’s piece today will catch you up. If there was any rec button there, I would have clicked it ten times:

According to Ruocco, if the threshold for unrestricted free-agency were to return to four accrued seasons (it took six seasons to become unrestricted in 2010, an uncapped year), this would be the biggest free-agency class ever with 495 players eligible. Of that group, 34 percent are deemed starters, having started eight games or more, which would make it also the highest-quality class ever in that regard. That group would stand to profit heavily in March, as historically half of all free agents get some form of a bonus in March around when they sign, and the average bonus is $2 million, according to Ruocco. The timing of these payments is significant to players’ pay cycles, since base salaries all paid over 17 game checks from September to January.

Go read it now. Please.

You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In *St. Louis* his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well, *Steven Jackson* was the best.

by 3k on Jan 27, 2011 4:42 PM CST reply actions