Four more players get franchise tags

By Chris Cluff  |   Wednesday, February 20, 2008  |  Comments( 3 )

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The Green Bay Packers, Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans all used their franchise designations Wednesday. The Packers kept defensive tackle Corey Williams, the Raiders retained cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, the Seahawks tagged cornerback Marcus Trufant and the Titans held on to defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth.

Williams is guaranteed a one-year deal worth $6.36 million, which was the average salary-cap value of the top five defensive tackles in the NFL last season. Asomugha and Trufant are guaranteed one-year deals worth $9.465 million if they do not reach long-term deals with their teams by July 15. Haynesworth would be due $7.26 million, which represents a 120 percent increase over his 2007 salary-cap number.

Asomugha could make more because he was named an exclusive franchise player, which guarantees him the average of the top-five cornerback salary-cap numbers in 2008. By making him an exclusive franchise player, the Raiders precluded any other team from signing him.

The rest are free to talk with other teams, but any team that signs one of them would have to give the player's original team two first-round draft picks if the original team chose not to match the offer.

Eleven players received the franchise tag this offseason, although Dallas Clark's tag was ripped away once he signed a long-term deal Wednesday.

Commentary: These moves all make sense for these teams, although leave it to the Raiders to do something odd, using the exclusive tender.

Fantasy Football Impact: None.

Playing tag every February and tracking all of the big moves year round at RealFootball365.com.
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About Chris Cluff

Chris Cluff spent 10 years as an editor and sportswriter for The Seattle Times. He was a key figure in the newspaper's coverage of the Seahawks, particularly during their Super Bowl run in 2005. He also has written two books on the Seahawks: "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Heart-Pounding, ...
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