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Should Colts franchise tag Mark Glowinski?

By Jaleel Grandberry

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - NOVEMBER 12: Mark Glowinski #64 of the Indianapolis Colts plays against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on November 12, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - NOVEMBER 12: Mark Glowinski #64 of the Indianapolis Colts plays against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on November 12, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /
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The Indianapolis Colts will have to make a lot of decisions this offseason and the future of Mark Glowinski is an important one.

Monday, February 21, was one of the first key dates of the NFL offseason. It was the first day that teams could officially place the franchise tag on players. Franchises have until March 8, to decide.

The franchise tag is something a team can apply to a player that is about to enter free agency. By assigning the franchise tag, the team gets to retain a player for one additional season and the player’s salary is determined by the average of the top-five salaries at the position.

Each team gets one franchise tag per season, but they don’t have to use it. Players typically prefer long-term contracts for security, but if the team is unable to agree on an extension, they’ll resort to the tag to keep the player for at least one more year.

In recent years, the Indianapolis Colts haven’t used the franchise tag. The last time Indy did was in 2013 when the team decided to tag Pat McAfee.

With 28 pending free agents in Indy, the Colts may have to contemplate using it this offseason. The most likely candidate to be franchise tagged on Indy’s roster is guard, Mark Glowinski.

Is Mark Glowinski worth Colts franchise tag?

Mark Glowinski is considered the free agent that Indianapolis needs to re-sign most, and for good reason. He has been a durable starting guard on the offensive line for the last four years and was instrumental to the Colts’ run game.

Indy already has concerns at left tackle and it won’t be beneficial to add more question marks to the offensive line. Keeping Glowinski in the blue and white is a must.

Surely Indianapolis and Glowinski would like to get a long-term deal done, but is it possible? They were able to do it in 2019 when Glowinski signed a three-year, $18 million extension, but circumstances are different this time.

For starters, the other guard on the Colts offensive line, Quenton Nelson, is entering the final season of his rookie deal. His first four seasons have merited a bank-breaking contract extension.

Additionally, Indianapolis is possibly upgrading at quarterback and may be in the market for receivers as well, so it will be interesting to see how Indy decides to spread its money.

Glowinski is more valuable than he was three years ago, so the Colts probably won’t be able to re-sign him for six million annually, but is he worth the franchise tag?

The projected value of an offensive line tag is $16.5 million. While Glowinski has been good, it’s hard to make the case that he should receive top compensation for his position.

That makes it unlikely that the Colts will decide to franchise tag him. The path forward for Indy and Glowinski seems to be either hammering out a multi-year deal or having to part ways.

It would greatly benefit Indianapolis to prevent Glowinski from walking away.

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