Bengals to franchise K Shayne Graham

[YoFuggedaboutit]

WTF??  They're giving the franchise tag to a..... KICKER??

ROFL!!!!!!!!

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/football/story/906852.html

[fyo]

You say that like it's a rare thing.

The Patriots franchised Vinatieri, the Broncos Elam.

Oh, and just THIS YEAR Atlanta used their franchise tag on Michael Koenen, their punter/kicker.

Additionally, both the Titans and Lions are reportedly considering using their franchise tag on someone kicking the ball, provided long term deals aren't reached.

The franchise tag actually works very well on kickers. Performance is notoriously unstable, so you don't necessarily want to commit to a long contract - especially if your kicker is getting up there. On the other hand, it's critical to have someone reasonably competent, so franchising your kicker (if you're happy with his performance) gives you another year to find a replacement (which usually isn't TOO difficult). Because salaries are fairly low even for the highest paid kickers, franchising is only going to cost you $2.5-$3 million. More than they're worth? Yeah, probably, but you're only out maybe a million or whatever (above market value for a replacement), not like spending $10 million on franchising a "skill" position player.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

^^^^

Thanks for pointing that out.  I did not know that.  Personally, I wouldn't franchise my kicker if I was an NFL GM.

[Brian Fein]

Its worth it if you have a good kicker and Graham is a decent one.  Also, if you have no one else that you feel is worth the financial aspect of the franchise tag, then the kicker is a good place to spend it.  Its not like being the highest paid kicker in the league is equal to the highest paid LB, QB, or WR...

[fyo]

Also, a lot of teams don't like using the franchise tag at all. They feel the effects are, overall, negative. Pissing off a kicker doesn't carry the same risk as pissing off a "real" franchise player. (Sorry, not getting down on kickers - they're just easier to replace than, say, a really good quarterback).

[SportsChick]

Pats Franchised Vinatieri twice before he left for Indy