Colts Don’t use Their Franchise Tag, What Does it Mean?

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 13: Head coach Frank Reich of the Indianapolis Colts addresses the media during his introductory press conference at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 13, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 13: Head coach Frank Reich of the Indianapolis Colts addresses the media during his introductory press conference at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 13, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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The deadline to place the franchise tag on a player has come and gone. The Colts decided not to use theirs. What does that mean?

The franchise tag is one of the starts of free agency. When teams start tagging players, it means that free agency is right around the corner. The deadline for teams to place the franchise tag on players passed on Tuesday at 4pm. But what does that even mean?

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Teams can place the franchise tag on one player per off-season. They can only do it when a player is up for unrestricted free agency. When a team places the franchise tag on someone, it is essentially a one year deal. The player is paid on that tag based on the top five average salaries of other players at that position, or 120% of their previous year’s salary.

What that means is most players on the franchise tag end up getting a raise. The Colts decided that there was no player that they valued enough to give them that tag. They didn’t want to pay someone that increased amount of money.

Was this the right decision for the Colts? There are only a few players that they should have been considering tagging. Rashaan Melvin is one of those players. But if the Colts tagged him, they would pay an enormous sum of money for essentially a one year deal. The team does have cap space so the money isn’t necessarily the issue.

The main issue is that the Colts want to try and extend him and other players. They want to show that long term commitment to a player of Melvin’s stature. That way, it builds good will between both the player and the organization.

Next: Colts Free Agency Guide: What to do With all the Money

Most players don’t like playing on the franchise tag. Kirk Cousins has done it for the last two years, and it worked for him. But it doesn’t for a lot of players. They end up hurting their stock. In the end, the Colts might have made the right choice in not franchising anyone.