NFL Notes: Franchise Tags, Draft, Offseason Trades

February 18, 2018

Franchise Tags

Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com identifies eight free agents who are most likely to receive the franchise tag in the coming weeks.

Rosenthal’s list includes:

Le’Veon Bell, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Demarcus Lawrence, DE, Dallas Cowboys
Allen Robinson, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
Sammy Watkins, WR, Los Angeles Rams
Kyle Fuller, CB, Chicago Bears
Andrew Norwell, OG, Carolina Panthers
Ezekiel Ansah, DE, Detroit Lions
Sheldon Richardson, DT, Seattle Seahawks

We have all of these players featured in our Top 100 – 2018 NFL Free Agents list.

Draft

Washington State HC Mike Leach said that he believes Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen should both have stayed in college for another year.

“I thought they both should have stayed,” Leach said, via Sirius XM NFL Radio. “I think that Rosen measures out better in some areas, the ball he throws is real pretty, but to me it seems like Darnold elevates his team and I think those guys play around him a little better.”

Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com reports that the 49ers are one of several teams interested in Oklahoma State WR Marcell Ateman.

Offseason Trades

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk makes a good case for the NFL allowing NFL teams to officially process trades earlier than the start of the next league year.

As of now, teams can negotiate trades much like the Chiefs and Redskins did for QB Alex Smith. However, these agreements can’t officially be processed until the first day of the league year.

Florio suggests officially opening the trade market right after the Super Bowl is over, which could give teams over a month work on potential trades.

The NFL for whatever reason hasn’t done a whole lot to facilitate more trades outside of moving the deadline back to Week 8. Many have made the case that the deadline should be pushed back even further if the NFL wants the deadline to be as active as other leagues, but there’s no indication that this is something being considered by the league office.

Even so, trades were up considerably last year.

Here’s the full list of 93 completed 2017 NFL trades. (NFLTR)