Dawg Pound Daily
FanSided

Cleveland Browns top franchise tag options for 2022 season

By Greg Newland

Oct 25, 2020; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku (85)makes the touchdown catch as Cincinnati Bengals strong safety Vonn Bell (24)defends late in the fourth quarter at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 25, 2020; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku (85)makes the touchdown catch as Cincinnati Bengals strong safety Vonn Bell (24)defends late in the fourth quarter at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next
Cleveland Browns
CLEVELAND, OH – DECEMBER 09: Punter Reggie Hodges #2 and kicker Phil Dawson #4 of the Cleveland Browns kick off during the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns Stadium on December 9, 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns defeated the Chiefs 30-7. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

The Cleveland Browns haven’t been active participants in utilizing the franchise tag in years past, but that all may change in 2022.

Full offseason mode for the NFL and Cleveland Browns has started this week. The Super Bowl is now in the past, and the NFL combine is now taking place in Indianapolis.

I’m not a huge fan of the combine and tend to trust the tape more than statistics, but it is the first close-up look some of these franchises are getting with the top-end talent of the 2022 NFL Draft.

One of the more overlooked time periods in the NFL is the Franchise Tag time. What that means is, from February 22nd to March 8th, teams can place the tag on any player who is set to become an unrestricted free agent.

The franchise tag comes with a heavy payment towards the player as it is the average of the top five salaries at that position that becomes fully guaranteed to the player.

If a franchise has an elite player that they want to negotiate a long-term deal with, the franchise tag is a great weapon. Players sometimes dislike the tag because it is short-term, and they are wasting their short shelf life on a one-year deal (even though they are highly incentivized to do so.

In true Cleveland fashion, the only player I remember them ever using the franchise tag on was kicker, Phil Dawson. For so long the team didn’t have anyone worth that type of money, and if they did, they did everything possible to leave.

The Cleveland Browns don’t have a ton of options to franchise tag in 2022, but Andrew Berry certainly could consider using it for the first time since 2011.

Home/Browns Free Agency