2012 NFL Free Agency: Franchise Tags Are Now Available

NFL Franchise Tags Are Here: Who Gets Tagged And Who Hits Free Agency? - SBNation.com. Monday, February 20th (aka today) is the first day that teams can place the franchise tag on players. I don't expect that many of them will be in a big hurry because some teams, like the Lions, would need to clear some salary cap room before they could apply it.

While it's been widely expected that the Green Bay Packers will use the franchise tag on TE Jermichael Finley because he's good and the franchise tag amount for tight ends is relatively low ($5 to 6 million range), Joel Thorman lists Finley as a maybe for the Packers. He's thinking the Packers might still be considering a tag-and-trade arrangement for Matt Flynn, though that seems unlikely due to the high franchise tag amount for a quarterback (around $14 million).

He does list a few players who might receive the franchise tag though it's never been expected that they would leave. For example, it's been expected that Marshawn Lynch will remain with the Seahawks, he has more value to them then to probably any other team, and the Seahawks have shown a willingness to spend under Pete Carroll, but they would use the franchise tag if the deal isn't finalized soon.