No, the Baltimore Ravens won’t use the franchise tag on center Ryan Jensen.
NFL free agency doesn’t officially begin until March 14th but today marks an important day for many teams. Teams can officially place the franchise or transition tag on their players. Big-name unrestricted free agents like Le’Veon Bell, Demarcus Lawrence, Allen Robinson are expected to receive the tag this offseason.
The Baltimore Ravens have 11 impending unrestricted free agents this offseason. Center Ryan Jensen will undoubtedly be the top target the Ravens will try to bring back. But even then, don’t expect Jensen to receive the franchise or transition tag this offseason.
There are three different options teams can take regarding the tag. Here’s how it works thanks to Kevin Patra of NFL.com:
Exclusive franchise tag
The player receives a one-year tender averaged from the top five salaries at their position or 120% of the player’s previous salary. Under this tag, the player cannot negotiate with any other team.
Non-exclusive franchise tag
This tag is fairly similar but with one key difference. The player receives a one-year tender averaged from the top five salaries at their position or 120% of the player’s previous salary. However, the player can negotiate with other teams. The team that placed the non-exclusive tag has the right to match any offers. If the team decides to forego that option, they receiver two first-round picks in return. Not a bad compensation.
Transition tag
The player one-year tender averaged from the top ten salaries at their position. The same rules apply to the non-exclusive tag, except teams do not receive any compensation if they refuse to match an offer.
Why Jensen won’t get the tag
As great as it would be for the Ravens to just tag Jensen and keep him around, it doesn’t make any sense. Based on 2017’s numbers, an offensive lineman will make upwards of $14 million under this year’s franchise tag. That amount doesn’t differ between centers, guards and tackles, the offensive line is lumped into one group. The positional value of a center isn’t that of a guard or tackle.
The highest paid center in 2018 will be Travis Frederick with a $13.245 million value. Can you justify tagging Jensen and paying him more than that? Of course not, that’s offensive tackle money. The Ravens are tight enough as it is with their cap space situation.
Plus, the tag only guarantees a one-year stay. The ultimate goal is to keep Jensen long-term and tagging him doesn’t accomplish that. Panthers’ guard Andrew Norwell is the only offensive lineman expected to receive the franchise tag this offseason. Even then there’s no guarantee that happens.
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In the Ravens’ case, they don’t have enough cap space to tag Jensen and there’s no reason to consider it. The two sides will look to ultimately reach a deal but the main need still resides in the pass-catching department.