By Anthony Fallas Edited by Peter Cordi
As of February 16th, NFL teams are open to use the franchise tag on a certain player. Some clubs are already deciding whether or not they want to use their franchise tag this year. The franchise tag period ends on March 2nd, so teams need to make their decisions hastily. The Baltimore Ravens should seriously consider using their franchise tag on four-year veteran wide receiver Torrey Smith.
To those who don’t know how the franchise tag works, teams can choose a player to have a one-year, fully guaranteed contract. The amount of money is calculated by averaging the top 5 salaries at the position of the player receiving the franchise tag- or by giving the player a 20% pay raise from his salary of the previous year. The larger salary of the two is what the franchise tagged player receives. If Torrey Smith is tagged, he would be set to receive a guaranteed $12.8 million in 2015.
Torrey Smith combined for 3,591 yards and 30 touchdowns in his four years since entering the NFL by way of the draft, making him a very big contender in free agency. Ravens fans all over the world are crossing their fingers, hoping Smith doesn’t leave the Ravens. To prevent Smith from leaving, the Ravens will need to use a franchise tag on him or negotiate a long-term contract, with the latter seeming unlikely.
The main problem with using the franchise tag is that it takes a major toll on salary capacities, and the Ravens can’t afford to spend big on one wide receiver. They only have $3,262,410 in cap space per overthecap.com. Torrey Smith is not worth $12.8 at this point in his career. This is where the problem comes in. If the Ravens decide not to use their franchise tag on Smith, teams would easily be able to give him a better salary than the Ravens can offer. Smith already turned down a 5-year, $35 million contract before the 2014 season, so it looks like he is seeking a large pay day. A couple probable scenarios as to what the Ravens might decide to do with Torrey Smith:
Scenario 1: The Baltimore Ravens will not use their franchise tag on Torrey Smith, thus letting him hit free agency. The Ravens will try hard, knowing that Smith said he would love to stay in Baltimore, to get him back under contract. If they fail to keep Smith in purple and gold, they will need to acquire a talented young wide receiver in the upcoming draft. If Torrey Smith leaves in free agency, their top receiver will be 35 year old Steve Smith. Potential wide receivers they should consider drafting includes Dorial Green-Beckham, Jaelen Strong, and Devin Funchess.
Scenario 2: This is the most probable scenario. The Baltimore Ravens will use an exclusive franchise tag, but only temporarily, then they will sign Torrey Smith to a long-term contract. This tactic has been used across the league to prevent high-priority players from hitting the free agency market. Once a player has been exclusively franchise tagged, he can’t work out a new deal with any other clubs. The Ravens used this method two years in a row with Haloti Ngata and Ray Rice, respectively.
The length of this process varies significantly. Since the free agency period begins on March 10th and ends on July 15th, clubs have a substantial amount of time to work out a deal with their players. If the Ravens can find a way to get Torrey Smith back under contract again, they will not have to worry about having to draft a wide receiver early in the draft rather than a well-needed defensive back.
As of February 16th, NFL teams are open to use the franchise tag on a certain player. Some clubs are already deciding whether or not they want to use their franchise tag this year. The franchise tag period ends on March 2nd, so teams need to make their decisions hastily. The Baltimore Ravens should seriously consider using their franchise tag on four-year veteran wide receiver Torrey Smith.
To those who don’t know how the franchise tag works, teams can choose a player to have a one-year, fully guaranteed contract. The amount of money is calculated by averaging the top 5 salaries at the position of the player receiving the franchise tag- or by giving the player a 20% pay raise from his salary of the previous year. The larger salary of the two is what the franchise tagged player receives. If Torrey Smith is tagged, he would be set to receive a guaranteed $12.8 million in 2015.
Torrey Smith combined for 3,591 yards and 30 touchdowns in his four years since entering the NFL by way of the draft, making him a very big contender in free agency. Ravens fans all over the world are crossing their fingers, hoping Smith doesn’t leave the Ravens. To prevent Smith from leaving, the Ravens will need to use a franchise tag on him or negotiate a long-term contract, with the latter seeming unlikely.
The main problem with using the franchise tag is that it takes a major toll on salary capacities, and the Ravens can’t afford to spend big on one wide receiver. They only have $3,262,410 in cap space per overthecap.com. Torrey Smith is not worth $12.8 at this point in his career. This is where the problem comes in. If the Ravens decide not to use their franchise tag on Smith, teams would easily be able to give him a better salary than the Ravens can offer. Smith already turned down a 5-year, $35 million contract before the 2014 season, so it looks like he is seeking a large pay day. A couple probable scenarios as to what the Ravens might decide to do with Torrey Smith:
Scenario 1: The Baltimore Ravens will not use their franchise tag on Torrey Smith, thus letting him hit free agency. The Ravens will try hard, knowing that Smith said he would love to stay in Baltimore, to get him back under contract. If they fail to keep Smith in purple and gold, they will need to acquire a talented young wide receiver in the upcoming draft. If Torrey Smith leaves in free agency, their top receiver will be 35 year old Steve Smith. Potential wide receivers they should consider drafting includes Dorial Green-Beckham, Jaelen Strong, and Devin Funchess.
Scenario 2: This is the most probable scenario. The Baltimore Ravens will use an exclusive franchise tag, but only temporarily, then they will sign Torrey Smith to a long-term contract. This tactic has been used across the league to prevent high-priority players from hitting the free agency market. Once a player has been exclusively franchise tagged, he can’t work out a new deal with any other clubs. The Ravens used this method two years in a row with Haloti Ngata and Ray Rice, respectively.
The length of this process varies significantly. Since the free agency period begins on March 10th and ends on July 15th, clubs have a substantial amount of time to work out a deal with their players. If the Ravens can find a way to get Torrey Smith back under contract again, they will not have to worry about having to draft a wide receiver early in the draft rather than a well-needed defensive back.