Dez Bryant gets the Cowboys Franchise Tag

All franchise tags have been submitted for Monday’s deadline and the Dallas Cowboys have officially tagged, wide receiver, Dez Bryant.

Though the tag will just seal his stay for 2015, ESPN says the Cowboys hope to have a long-term contract with Bryant by July 15. The team anticipated signing one last year, however Bryant had switched agents. But Dez is going to get a nice salary bump with this tag. As of today, the NFL released the approximate pricing list for franchise tags and receivers are to make $12.823 million this season. The salary cap is now at $143.28m (up $10m in 2014 and $20m from two years ago). Unfortunately this could mean giving up, leading rusher, DeMarco Murray this off-season. Executive VP, Stephen Jones, did say there’s a chance Murray may stay even if he doesn’t sign prior to free agency beginning but we’ll see about that.

You can argue all you’d like about him being the best receiver in the league, but his stats have landed him a few Cowboy records, one being the second-fastest player to receive his first 50 touchdowns. He’s seventh overall in the NFL.The two time Pro-Bowler made 88 catches for 1,320 yards and 16 touchdowns. Since his start in Dallas, five seasons ago, he’s caught 381 passes for 5,424 yards a 56 touchdowns. Let’s see what will happen come the July signing deadline.

Joining the franchise tag list are:

Demaryius Thomas – Denver Broncos

Justin Houston – Kansas City Chiefs

Jason Pierre-Paul – New York Giants

Stephen Gostkowski – New England Patriots

Charles Clay – Miami Dolphins

Per the NFL.com these are thorough definitions of Franchise Tags:

“The exclusive franchise tag is a one-year tender offer to a player for an amount no less than the average of the top five salaries at the player’s position, or 120 percent of the player’s previous salary, whichever is greater. The player’s team has all negotiating rights to the player.

The non-exclusive franchise tag is a one-year tender offer to a player for an amount no less than the average of the top five salaries at the player’s position, or 120 percent of the player’s previous salary, whichever is greater. The player can negotiate with other teams. The player’s current team has the right to match any offer, or receive two first-round picks as compensation.

The transition tag is a one-year tender offer to a player for an amount that is the average of the top 10 salaries at the position. It guarantees the original club the right of first refusal to match any offer the player may receive from another team. The transition tag can only be used if the franchise tag is not used by a team in that year. Transition tags can be rescinded, but teams that rescind a transition tag cannot use it again until next season.”

Sources Cited:

Cowboys franchize Dez Bryant: Todd Archer, ESPN.com

Franchise Tag Tracker: Kevin Patra, Around the NFL