Will someone smarter than me answer this Hardy franchise tag question?

[PantherAZ]

It seems most think that the Panthers will tag Hardy this offseason due to the cap situation. Now I'm not very cap smart, but I don't see how this helps at all. IIRC, the franchise tag on a DE is about $16M. So if he's tagged, that's $16M we're paying heady next season that's not going towards a long term contact. If we can afford to pay the man $16M next year (I'm pretty sure we can't) wouldn't it be smarter to put that towards a long term contract? Maybe there's something I'm missing.

Also, there seems to be a lot of talk about a tag and trade. When we were going through this with Peppers, I seem to remember the idea of a tag and trade being mentioned, but not being talked about as much. I seem to remember reading that due yo the CBA, you couldn't tag with the intention of trading. Tag and trades happen, but I thought I read it had to be a trade that was proposed after the tag. Obviously it's difficult to enforce, but it seems like there's more open discussion about it. Did that change or do I just remember incorrectly?

Thanks.

[Kevin Greene]

n/mind forum wont let me post a search.

Just do a search for Hardy in this forum titles only.

lots of threads to read.

[tailg8or]

You're right.  The tag doesn't help us with the cap.  The tag is all salary and cannot be prorated over life of the contract.  If we did sign Hardy to a long-term deal, good chance the 2014 cap hit is significantly less than the hit under a franchise tag.

 

In a nutshell ... If we put an exclusive tag on him and he signs with another team, we get 2 first-rounders.  Unlikely that will happen.  If we tag him and work out a trade, the other team will agree in principle with his agent on a long-term deal before pulling the trigger.  Under that scenario, we won't get 2 first rounders but will get something for him. 

[fieryprophet]

The tag is $11-12 million, not 16.

[Woodcookedbbq]

The franchise tag just buys you another year in hopes that other players will restructure, cut personnel at the end of the season to relieve space, and maybe the situation will be better the next time around.

[d-dave]

For his production, 11-12 is a good value.

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[SauceBoss]

MOAR THREADZ

[Peppers90 NC]

12.8 and no we wouldnt take a cap hit if we tagged then traded him.