Chicago Bears Insider: Franchise Tags and Free Agents

February 14, 2011   ·   Bryan Dietzler   ·   Jump to comments

The Bears are entering the 2011 offseason with 14 free agents (including two restricted free agents) so the Bears have some decisions to make this offseason.  Granted, some of their decisions will depend on what happens with the collective bargaining agreement but let’s just think that things will proceed normally and the Bears will have to deal with these 14 players.
The Bears have recently announced that they will not be using the franchise tag this offseason.  Teams are allowed to use a franchise tag to give to one player that they want to keep around and not yet sign to a long-term contract.  The franchise tag allows for any team to take a player that is going to be an unrestricted free agent and keep that player with the team for one season.  
The franchise tag is a bit expensive for teams to use.  There are two types of franchise tags that teams can use.  The first, a non-exclusive rights franchise tag gives the player a one-year sala...

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