No Deals Likely Today For Seven Franchise-Tagged Players

July 15, 2021

According to Adam Schefter, no deals are likely before today’s deadline of 4 ET to sign franchise-tagged players to a long-term deal.

That means these seven players will likely play out the 2021 season on the one-year, fully guaranteed tag:

Bears WR Allen Robinson
Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin
Jaguars OT Cam Robinson
Jets S Marcus Maye
Panthers RT Taylor Moton
Saints S Marcus Williams
Washington G Brandon Scherff

Teams miss this deadline all the time but it’s a little unusual to see no deals in range of the finish line at this point.

It’s possible the players are eyeing the salary cap that’s expected to start going up again in 2022 and holding out for a shot at free agency then.

Robinson, 27, is a former second-round pick by the Jaguars back in 2014. He played out the final year of a four-year, $3.510 million rookie contract before agreeing to a three-year, $42 million contract with roughly $25 million guaranteed with the Bears back in 2018.

Robinson played out the final year of his contract and made a base salary of $10,900,000 for the 2020 season. Chicago franchise-tagged him for the 2021 season at $17.9 million

In 2020, Robinson appeared in all 16 games for the Bears and caught 102 passes for 1,250 yards receiving and six touchdowns.

Godwin, 25, is a former third-round pick by the Buccaneers in the 2017 NFL Draft out of Penn State. He played out the final year of his four-year, $3.2 million rookie contract and was in line to be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his NFL career when Tampa Bay used the franchise tag on him.

In 2020, Godwin appeared in 12 games for the Buccaneers and caught 65 passes for 840 yards receiving and seven touchdowns.

Robinson, 25, is a former second-round pick of the Jaguars out of Alabama back in 2017. He just finished the final year of a four-year, $7,018,128 deal and was set to be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career when the Jaguars placed the franchise tag on him.

Robinson will make a salary of $13.754 million under the tag in 2021.

In 2020, Robinson started all 16 games for the Jaguars at left tackle. Pro Football Focus had him rated as the No. 62 tackle out of 79 qualifying players.

Maye, 28, is a former second-round pick of the Jets back in 2017. He just finished the final year of his four-year, $6.554 million contract that included $4.134 million guaranteed.

In 2020, Maye appeared in all 16 games for the Jets and recorded 88 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles, one recovery, two interceptions and 11 pass defenses. He was rated by Pro Football Focus as the No. 5 safety out of 94 qualifying players.

Moton, 27, was drafted by the Panthers in the second round out of Western Michigan in 2017. He was set to be an unrestricted free agent after finishing his four-year, $4.158 million rookie deal that paid him a base salary of $1.032 million in 2020 when the Panthers used the franchise tag on him.

Moton is slated to make $13.754 fully guaranteed in 2021 under the tag.

In 2020, Moton appeared in all 16 games at right tackle for the Panthers. Pro Football Focus rated him as the No. 13 overall tackle out of 79 players.

Williams, 24, is a former second-round pick of the Saints back in 2017. He played out the final year of his four-year, $6.2 million contract with New Orleans and was in position to test the free agent market as an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his NFL career when the Saints franchise-tagged him.

Williams will make $10.612 million fully guaranteed for the 2021 season under the tag.

In 2020, Williams appeared in 14 games for the Saints and recorded 59 tackles, three interceptions and seven passes defended.

Scherff, 29, is a former No. 5 overall pick by Washington out of Iowa in the 2015 NFL Draft. He signed a four-year, $21.215 million fully guaranteed rookie contract and is playing out the fifth-year option on that deal.

Washington picked up Scherff’s option in 2018 and paid him $12,525,000 for the 2019 season and opted to franchise him in 2020 for $15 million.

Washington tagged Scherff for the second straight year this offseason.

In 2020, Scherff appeared in 13 games for Washington and making 13 starts for them at guard. Pro Football Focus had him rated as the No. 4 guard out of 80 qualifying players.