http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=6645 In a Monday press release the Bengals announced they have designated offensive lineman Stacy Andrews as the team's franchise free agent. In order to do so the Bengals have to tender him a one-year deal worth the average of the NFL's top five paid offensive linemen in 2007, in this case $7.5 million. According to the news release: Andrews will be a fifth-year NFL player in 2008. He is presently unsigned for '08, and he will become an unrestricted free agent on Feb. 29 if he does not reach a contract agreement with the Bengals prior to that date. The franchise-player designation means that the Bengals could retain Andrews by matching any offer sheet he would sign from another team and that if the Bengals declined to match a signed offer, the team signing Andrews would be required to give the Bengals its first-round choices in the 2008 and 2009 NFL Drafts. "Stacy has been a productive young player for us," said Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. "He has shown the flexibility to start and play well at a number of different positions on our line. This move helps us keep our core players together, and it gives us an opportunity to continue negotiating for a longer-term contract with Stacy." Andrews played in every Bengals game last season, with 14 starts. He started Games 1-3 at left guard, but later replaced injured Willie Anderson at right tackle in Games 5 and 7-16. He was a key contributor to a franchise record 17 sacks allowed. The Bengals ranked second in the NFL in fewest sacks allowed, one off the pace of league leader New Orleans. "The franchise option is designed to help a team retain the rights to a top player," said Bengals vice-president Troy Blackburn. "The players' union supports it because it guarantees that player a salary commensurate with what he has accomplished." The Collective Bargaining Agreement permits a new agreement between Andrews and the Bengals to be reached at any time prior to July 15.
I'm shocked, i didn't think they would franchise Andrews, that team has a lot of money pumped into the Tackle position right ow
There's a ton of cap space out there at the moment so that aspect does not surprise me. That they'd spend the cash is interesting though. I guess they decided that after losing Steinbach last year they could not afford more thinning on the offensive line right now. That's an argument I understand, although they didn't exactly play lights out on offense last season with him in there.
Wow very surprising.. Now what do they tag him as, a G or a T? I would think it is quite the difference in money between the top 5 Ts and top 5 Gs.
It's a strategic move. If they knew a team like the Jets were going to go hard after him they tag him, trade him to the Jets for a 2nd rounder and get something out of it. Worst case scenario is they work out a long term deal. I doubt he gets paid the franchise amount by the Bengals come the end of August.
I could be wrong here, but I believe you cannot tag a player and then trade him before you work out a contract with him. You cannot tag a player and then trade him under the tag.
I think actually the new team can work out a contract with him if he is under the tag, I think this is what we did with J-abe when we tagged-traded him. Someone please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
Again, I could be wrong but I believe the only reason the trade of Abraham worked is because Abraham waived the no-trade clause that is in all franchise designations and agreed to negotiate a deal with Atlanta. Upon doing that he allowed the Jets to trade him. My original point was that by tagging Andrews I believe the Bengals have given him a no-trade clause unless he chooses to relinquish it. Given that they have guaranteed him 7+ million if he does not that will be a tricky maneuver for them to accomplish. JAbe was going to get his money no matter what happened, he actually wanted to leave NY to get more money than the franchise tag would have given him. Somehow I don't see Andrews getting more money elsewhere.
Well that sucks... Says alot about Andrews though...alot of Jets fans (on JI mostly) had no idea who Andrews was and therefore assumed he mustn't be all that good.
Short term he's not going to get that kind of annual salary but he may want to cash in and get a long term deal. Whether that's with the Bengals or he waives his no trade clause to go elsewhere I'd imagine that's what will happen.
ok, so odds are we won't be getting andrews now. Time to move on to fill our RT spot::::: What do you guys think of Maurice Williams?
It's not clear to me that he'd get 7 million guaranteed on the free agent market at this point. He might, but you have to remember that proven starting guards, like Steven Hutchinson and Eric Steinbach, got a bit more than twice that in guaranteed money when they were on the market. To give you a reference point: Kenyon Coleman, a guy in virtually the same situation last year as Andrews is in this year, got 6 million guaranteed from the Jets. I wouldn't expect Andrews to get a contract offer that was a lot out of line with that one, because nobody really thought Coleman was going to get that good an offer on the free agent market.
You're ignoring how the market is actually working though...Coleman only got his contract because last offseason that was considered "cheap." Theres so much money to spend that talented, young, unheralded players are going to get similar contracts in hopes that they flourish given a shot to start. I think Andrews would/could get a contract at least as good as the one Langston Walker got from the Bills (10 million guaranteed). This isn't the NFL FA market of a few years ago, theres money to spend and players/agents know it.
Andrews is just one of many that will be tagged over the coming week. It is expected. But, you can't tag them all, and their will be players worth making a serious run at.
You tag an offensive lineman either when he is the key to your line, like Orlando Pace was in St Louis or John Tait in Kansas City, or when you have suffered a run on the line with people leaving like Eric Steinbach did in Cincinnati last year. I think it's a surprising move by Cincinnati but it's probably also the smart move. Carson Palmer got sacked 17 times last season. You want to keep that number right where it is if you're the Bengals. Where would the Jets be right now if they had tagged Kareem McKenzie for 2005 and given themselves a year to think about the options?
