Detroit Lions have 20 unrestricted free agents, but are not expected to use franchise tag
The NFL’s annual franchise tag window opens Tuesday, and for the sixth straight year the Detroit Lions are not expected to use it.
The Lions have 20 unrestricted free agents, but only two were primary starters last season: Offensive guards Graham Glasgow and Jonah Jackson.
Both Glasgow and Jackson have expressed an interest in re-signing with the Lions for 2024, and Glasgow said the team told him it wants him back as well.
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But the projected franchise tag tender for offensive linemen next season is $21.72 million, according to OverTheCap.com, and neither player is likely to approach that number if they hit the open market.
Glasgow played last season on a one-year, $2.75 million deal, while Jackson finished his four-year rookie contract with a base salary of $2.992 million.
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Lions general manager Brad Holmes indicated at his end-of-season news conference earlier this month the Lions would not be major players in free agency, and instead would look to “sign our own.”
The Lions have long-term contract extensions on the horizon with several key players, including quarterback Jared Goff and receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. Both Goff and St. Brown could score deals that make them among the 10 highest-paid players at their position in the NFL.
Right tackle Penei Sewell and defensive tackle Alim McNeill are among others eligible for contract extensions. Both players are entering the final year of their rookie deals, though the Lions certainly will pick up Sewell’s fifth-year option if they don’t sign him to a new contract by April's draft.
“It’s one pot,” Holmes said. “You’ve got to be very strategic of (how) that pot is divided up or divvied up. But we’ll be smart, and we’ll make the right moves. But yeah, it just changes the landscape a little bit in free agency.”
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In addition to Glasgow and Jackson, 10 Lions who started games in 2023 will be unrestricted free agents in March: C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Josh Reynolds, Kindle Vildor, Tyson Alualu, Charles Harris, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Will Harris, Matt Nelson, Dan Skipper and Donovan Peoples-Jones.
Gardner-Johnson missed most of a last season with a torn pectoral muscle, but started at safety before his injury. Reynolds played as the Lions' No. 2 or 3 receiver most of the year, and Vildor finished the season as the Lions' No. 2 cornerback.
The franchise tag is a one-year tender of the average of the top five salaries at the player's position from the past five years. Players still can negotiate with other teams, but the tagging team has the right to match any contract or receive two first-round draft picks as compensation. If a team uses the exclusive franchise tag, the compensation goes up and the player has no ability to negotiate elsewhere.
Among the teams with tag decisions to make that will impact the free agent market are the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. They have two tag candidates in defensive tackle Chris Jones and cornerback La’Jarius Sneed, and the Lions’ division rival Chicago Bears might need to franchise cornerback Jaylon Johnson to keep him off the market.
Defensive end Brian Burns of the Carolina Panthers, defensive tackle Justin Madubuike of the Baltimore Ravens, defensive end Josh Allen of the Jacksonville Jaguars, safety Antoine Winfield Jr. of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and receiver Tee Higgins of the Cincinnati Bengals are other tag candidates.
The Lions last used the franchise tag on Ziggy Ansah in 2018.
This year's tag deadline ends March 5.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions have 20 free agents, don't expect to use franchise tag
