Books ready for Free Agency
By BetOnline.ag
In Major League Baseball, most of the game’s best players eventually hit free agency. Their agents push for that – especially if said agent is Scott Boras. It’s simple supply and demand: a guy on the open market is almost always going to get more money than re-signing with his own team. The NBA has the Larry Bird rule to help teams keep their superstars, but you still see big names like LeBron James and Kevin Durant, to name two, hit free agency and leave their original franchises.
The NFL is very different. There are no guaranteed contracts, for one. Teams also have a tool to keep their top free agent off the market for a year or two: the franchise tag. Most players don’t like it because it’s only a one-year deal. The one positive is any player tagged as such earns the average salary of the top-five players at his position for that season.
Thus you rarely see in-their-prime superstars hit free agency in the NFL if the tag is an option. The deadline for teams to tag players this year was last week. The Washington Redskins made the unique decision to tag quarterback Kirk Cousins for a second straight year. Cousins isn’t Andrew Luck or Tom Brady, but he would have become the highest-paid QB in the NFL had he hit free agency. Cousins made nearly $20 million on the tag last season and now will earn $24 million this year. He and the team have until July to work out a long-term deal, but Cousins holds all the leverage because the Skins won’t tag him again next year as Cousins would earn around $34 million. He is first quarterback in NFL history to receive the franchise tag in consecutive seasons since it was implemented in 1993.
Other big names tagged were Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell, Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, Cardinals defensive end Chandler Jones and Panthers defensive tackle Kawann Short, among a few others.
Free agency opens Thursday, March 9 at 4:00 p.m. ET, and because of franchise tags don’t expect a huge shuffling of NFL futures odds at BetOnline following the frenzy. There simply aren’t many huge difference-makers out there. The Patriots are +450 to repeat as Super Bowl champions, and they will be favored after the free-agent market calms down.
New England decided not to tag arguably its best defensive player, linebacker Dont’a Hightower, but still hopes to re-sign him. The Pats also reportedly will not trade backup QB Jimmy Garoppolo, instead keeping him as Brady’s backup for one more year before Garoppolo likely hits free agency.
The Chicago Bears could have tagged No. 1 receiver Alshon Jeffery for a second straight year but strangely opted not to. He will be the highest-paid free-agent receiver. Jeffery could improve the Super Bowl odds of a rising team like Tennessee, which badly needs a big target for QB Marcus Mariota. If Jeffery simply chases the money, he could land on a bad team like San Francisco. The other top receiver on the market is Terrelle Pryor. The Browns opted not to tag him even though Cleveland has by far the most salary-cap room in the NFL. The Browns still may re-sign him.
Adrian Peterson, the best running back in the league since he entered the NFL in 2007, is another big-name free agent after the Minnesota Vikings declined his option. Peterson hasn’t ruled out returning to Minnesota, and the market for the 32-year-old with an injury history isn’t clear. Peterson is still good enough when healthy that he could improve up the Super Bowl odds of a contender such as the Giants, Raiders or Seahawks – all 2016 playoff teams -- should he sign with one of those teams.
If you are a team looking for a starting quarterback in free agency, well, good luck. Clubs can choose from the likes of Colin Kaepernick, Mike Glennon, Brian Hoyer and Ryan Fitzpatrick. Good quarterbacks in their prime simply don’t land on the free-agent market.
That’s why Washington is overpaying Cousins.