Will new leadership bring a new approach to the Franchise Tag for the Vikings?

It’s not usually something that we talk about here in Minnesota because historically it’s never really mattered. But, with the deadline for teams to designate their franchise tag coming tomorrow (March 8th), there’s really no better time to discuss it than right now.

Under the leadership of former general manager Rick Spielman, the Minnesota Vikings utilized the franchise tag exactly ZERO times. I guess technically when Spielman was the Vice President of Player Personnel back in 2011 they used it, but that was one of only two times since the rule was introduced that it’s really mattered to the Minnesota Vikings.

Introduced in 1993, the franchise tag rule was put in place for teams and players to find a different level of security allowing the team to opt for extra control while getting the player paid. As mentioned above, the Vikings have only used the tag two times, once in 2003 to hang on to tight end Jim Kleinsasser and another time in 2011 to retain the services of linebacker Chad Greenway.

Given the current status of the team, that’s unlikely to change this season as the deadline is set to come and go tomorrow.

But with new leadership in house, might this be the first time we see a bit of a reset when it comes to the mentality of thought surrounding the franchise tag?

For a team to go ahead and use the franchise tag, you need a specific scenario to present itself.

First and foremost you need a player on your roster that is set to become a free agent and that the team would like to retain for at least one more year. It’s a bit of an awkward position because there’s likely some sort of hang up in the negotiations surrounding this player, but still some optimism that the two sides could eventually come to an agreement. This was the case with Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys a season ago.

Second, the team needs to have a little wiggle room when it comes to the salary cap (not exactly Minnesota’s strength right now). Franchise tag compensation comes out to the average cost of the top-5 players at the particular position in question. For example, for the 2022 season that pins a QB who get’s franchised at $29.5 million, a wide receiver at $18.5 million and defensive ends at $17.5 million. Still, there are scenarios where forking over the dough for a player (or a team) who’s not ready to commit long-term is worth it.

Right now we’re seeing one side of this scenario playing out in Green Bay with wide receiver Davante Adams. Adams isn’t ready to commit long-term to the Packers with so much uncertainty, but the Packers need Adams in the fold to even have a sniff at retaining Aaron Rodgers. So they’re expected to franchise designate Adams before tomorrow.

We saw the other side of the situation play out for Kirk Cousins for two seasons in Washington before he ended up in Minnesota. The team wasn’t quite sure if Kirk was worth a long-term, high dollar deal, but they didn’t have any other options at QB so they paid him, twice! Ultimately rubber met the road and they had to make a decision, and Kirk opted to leave D.C. and head for the Vikings.

For the Vikings, this season in particular, neither of these situations appear to be on then table. But could the future outlook be a little different with Kwesi Adofo Mensah and Kevin O’Connell bringing a bit of a new perspective?

Looking back at the history that our new team of leadership brings to the table, neither the Browns of the Rams opted to use the franchise tag while Adofo Mensah and O’Connell were there, but that doesn’t mean the didn’t have heavy conversations considering it. Given the fact that the new leadership appears to have a different train of thought and a different approach than that of the previous group, their thinking towards the tag may change.

The fact that there’s also a lot of transition with defensive style and offensive play-calling, we’re more likely to see a player tagged in 2023 than in 2022. Again, there really isn’t a player in a position to be tagged this year, Anthony Barr would be the only up for any consideration and the dollar amount for a linebacker this year is $18.5 million. With injury concerns and uncertainty around the 3-4 on the table, Barr is not worth that price tag. But next year, if there’s a player who surprises and balls out this year in the new systems, they could play their way into candidacy for the ’23 tag.

So, in the short-term, I wouldn’t expect any news out of TCO in the next 24 hours surrounding the franchise tag, but that page could be turning.

Aj Mansour is a member of The Power Trip Morning Show on KFAN and works for iHeartMedia and the Vikings Radio Network. He’s also a senior writer for VikingsTerritory.com. Be sure to follow him on social media for the latest Vikings news and big opinions – @AjKFAN


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