In Game Of (Franchise) Tag, Nobody’s “It” On Jets
The NFL allows teams to designate one player per season with a franchise tag to avoid losing him in free agency without receiving compensation. The league window for tagging these players began on Tuesday, though they typically don’t get placed this soon before the period ends on March 8.
That doesn’t mean a team HAS to use its tag. Overthecap.com lists 28 Jets who are slated to test the market on March 16. Given the one-year contract amounts that must be tendered to tagged players, even at the least impactful positions, I’m hard-pressed to find a single one that New York absolutely can’t afford to lose from a 4-13 club.
Here are the candidates that most deserve at least consideration for a tag, and how high Jets General Manager should go in his offers before walking away:
1) Folorunso Fatukasi (Defensive tackle)
A run-stuffing darling of ProFootballFocus.com’s grading system (though 2021 was a bit of a down year), the soon-to-be 27-year old just doesn’t get to the quarterback often enough to justify a projected franchise tag value of $16.9 million. A sixth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Fatukasi probably deserves around half that amount in line with his snap count percentage, which is still a nice raise from his nearly $2.2 million salary from the last season of his rookie deal. The Jets, though, have other more pressing needs than an early-down defensive lineman.
Offer: 2 years, $15 million ($10 million guaranteed)
2) Braxton Berrios (Wide receiver/returner)
This is a tough one, but the $19 million franchise tag for receivers (and even the $16.7 million for transition tags that would give the Jets a right of first refusal on other offers but no compensation should he walk) is simply too rich a price for a backup slot man, even when factoring in Berrios’ returning prowess. However, since garnering the First Team All-Pro kick return honor, his market value has soared. Douglas can rectify his mistake of not extending Berrios when he had the chance by not playing games in his negotiations. Moving Elijah Moore, who is on a rookie contract, to the slot will give Douglas some room in the budget to keep a real culture fit in house.
Offer: 3 years, $21 million ($14 million guaranteed)
3) Marcus Maye (Safety)
The Jets’ 2021 franchise tag designee, Maye is assumed to be on the exiled list following a season where he failed to tell the organization about a prior driving under the influence charge and then tore his Achilles in Week 9, an injury that is expected to affect his availability for the 2022 campaign. Though Maye is one of the NFL’s better deep safeties, there’s no chance he’ll get an offer anywhere close to the $13.5 million franchise tag amount. More likely he’ll have to take a one-year, prove-it deal in the neighborhood of $5-7 million. For that money, the Jets could deem it enough of a team-friendly contract, except what comes next? The Jets never intended to extend a nearly 28-year old safety for the payday Maye was looking for. Best to cut bait and move on now.
Offer: None
4) Morgan Moses (tackle)
The Jets have been awfully quiet about their plans for one of Douglas’ better free agent signings. Moses, 30, is coming off a decent year after getting dumped by Washington. The Jets initially envisioned him as a depth piece but he ended up starting 16 games due to the Week 1 injury to Mekhi Becton. Unlike Douglas’ 2020 Draft prize, Moses hasn’t missed a game since 2015. PFF graded Moses a lot higher in the run game than in pass protection, but he did cut down on the pressures allowed in the season’s second half when he had a more competent right guard next to him (see below) and he went the whole year without incurring a holding penalty. I don’t get why some Draft experts have the Jets taking a tackle with the No. 4 overall pick when they already have George Fant and can re-sign Moses as Becton insurance. Shades of the faulty Kelvin Beachum logic.
Offer: 3 years, $20 million ($12 million guaranteed, after restructuring and extending Fant’s contract to create more 2022 cap room)
5) Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (guard)
I don’t think it’s a coincidence or a small sample size variance that the Jets averaged a mere 76 yards rushing per game with a 3.6 average yards per carry in the first nine games of last season before taking off down the stretch. What changed? Douglas traded extraneous tight end Dan Brown for Duvernay-Tardif, who was rotting away on the Chiefs’ bench (ironically—or tragically, depending on your view of him as a player—Brown was cut by Kansas City shortly thereafter and ended the season as an extraneous tight end on the Jets’ roster). Duvernay-Tardif stepped in for the rotten Greg Van Roten and the ground game numbers immediately improved. Now, LDT didn’t have his best season, especially in pass protection, and Van Roten took over for him when he was out for the Jacksonville game, where the Jets rolled over the tankers to the tune of 273 yards rushing, but it just seemed like there were fewer gushers of free opposing defenders bursting through the Jets’ line after the trade. I don’t doubt that Duvernay-Tardif, 31, was a settling presence and worth bringing back at a reasonable cost.
Offer: 2 years, $11 million ($8 million guaranteed)