John McClain of the Houston Chronicle sees RB Arian Foster as the “most likely candidate” for the Texans franchise tag.
McClain mentions that tagging Foster is a smart move for the Texans because it will prevent other teams from trying to sign him away during free agency.
Foster is a restricted free agent but using the tag would guarantee that he’ll be back with the team next season for $7.7 million guaranteed.
McClain sees Chris Johnson‘s deal that includes $30 million guarantees as a reasonable “starting point” for negotiations with Foster.
Houston cannot use the tag on DE/OLB Mario Williams because his salary would jump to a staggering total of $22 million for next season. Chris Meyers will test the open market and tagging centers makes little sense because the franchise for offensive lineman accounts for guards and offensive tackles so they would essentially be paying him as a top-five tackle as opposed to a top-five center.
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