The Franchise Tag: Ability to "steal" players?

[Dante84]

I still follow Nick Wright, former 610 Sports talking head who has now moved to the Houston market.

He just posted the following series of tweets, advocating that the Texans (or any team, really) "steal" Dez Bryant from the Cowboys, should he get the franchise tag. He indicates the cost is 2-First Round picks:

Spoiler!

If the #Cowboys end up franchising Dez Bryant, I'd seriously consider forking over the 2 1st round picks it would take to steal him away...

— nick wright (@getnickwright) February 18, 2015

... Especially if I'm a team like the #Patriots drafting at the tail end of the 1st round anyways.

— nick wright (@getnickwright) February 18, 2015

... As long as I'm drafting mid-1st round or later, and if I think I'll be good next year, I'd definitely consider stealing Dez for 2 1sts.

— nick wright (@getnickwright) February 18, 2015

My questions to you all:

- Is this a thing that has been done?
- What's the policy?
- Are we in danger of losing Houston should he receive the tag?
- Would you pull the trigger on Dez, or another player, for 2-firsts?

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by O.city

Werner hasn't been very good yet and his free agent signings have been mediocre at best. Look at their ol.

He's hit on some good picks sure.

I also belive 4 or your players listed are what they are because of the first one listed, but that's just me.

Absolutely.

It's just like the Manning years. Indy will keep on trucking regardless of who's around Luck. That shit show is a one-man team and always will be.

Did I mention **** the Colts?

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Valiant

Poison clauses i think are forbidden now. But i think you can negotiate for less. Like a 1st and 2nd.

Yes, there have been various poison pills used over the years. The NFL then reacts by prohibiting them. Curtis Martin to the Jets, that guard that the Vikings stole from SEattle (was it Hutchinson?), and a couple others over the years.

Heck, Patriots used one to help get Welker. Miami was going to protest, and then the Pats and Dolphins negotiated to sweeten the pot and Miami went away "happy". They didn't really realize what they had though because they only used a transition tag on him.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by SNR

Absolutely.

It's just like the Manning years. Indy will keep on trucking regardless of who's around Luck. That shit show is a one-man team and always will be.

Did I mention **** the Colts?

Well, that's sort of the problem for them -- they are TOO MUCH of a one man team. Until they can get more talent around LUck, and on defense, they are going to stay "pretty darn good" but keep getting curb stomped by the elite teams.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Sorce

If I remember correctly the franchising team also gets the opportunity to match the agreed to contract so the team trying to sign the player has to structure the contract in a way that the franchising team can't match. So basically front load the contract so much that it would put the other team over the cap.

Yes. And that is NOT a poison pill. That's just making it awkward for the other team to match due to salary cap implications that aren't inherently unfair (unlike Martin to Jets, and that Seattle guard to the Vikings).

[Amnorix]

Right, it was Hutchinson. Seattle also had Walter Jones at the time, so the poison pill was ridiculously targetted at Seattle not matching.

The most famous “poision pill” contracts were used by the Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings who got into a bit of a struggle over free agents. Minnesota fired the first shot when they signed Seahawks G Steve Hutchinson to a $49 million contract, which contained the stipulation that if Hutchinson was not the highest paid offensive lineman on the team the entire contract would guarantee. Seattle already had a highly compensated lineman (Walter Jones) and thus could not match the offer sheet. Seattle fired back signing Vikings WR Nate Burleson to a similar deal that would guarantee if he played at least five games in the state of Minnesota. Burleson quickly became a Viking.

http://overthecap.com/poison-pills-alex-mack/


Interesting that apparently the Curtis Martin type poison pill is not banned.

Based on some rumors it sounds as if Mack and the Jaguars are going back to an offer sheet made by the New York Jets in 1998 to Patriots’ running back Curtis Martin as a basis for Mack’s offer sheet. The Jets devised a contract where Martin would be paid $4 million guaranteed for the 1998 season, which was a pretty high number in 1998 and near impossible for the Patriots to fit in their cap, but with a twist.

About one month after signing the contract, Martin would have to decide whether or not to exercise a player option that kept in place the remaining five years of the contract. If he did not invoke the option he would become a free agent in 1999 and the team would not have the ability to name him a Franchise or Transition player. If he did exercise the option the remaining years would stay and Martin would be paid an option bonus of over $7 million.

From the Patriots perspective what the contract was trying to accomplish was clear. Because the decision period was so short, it was almost a given that Martin would void the contract and waltz to the Jets in 1999 if they matched the offer. Since he could not be declared a Franchise player the Patriots would get no compensation when that occurred. In addition if Martin did invoke the option the Patriots would have serious maneuvering to do to get their roster cap compliant. They also knew that Martin was going to exercise the option once he was a member of the Jets. In essence, Eugene Parker (Martin’s agent), Bill Parcells, and Jets cap manager Mike Tannenbaum crafted two contracts- one that would apply to New England and one to the Jets- in one offer sheet. New England protested but eventually Martin became a member of the Jets, who he would finish a Hal of Fame career with. This type of “poison pill” is not banned by the NFL, since it treats both teams equally on paper.

[ct]

Joey Galloway, DOH

[BossChief]

I wouldn't trade 1 first for Dez Bryant.

There are 2 situations that aren't being reported where Dez is involved that if either gets out, he will immediately be out of the league.

[Dante84]

Originally Posted by BossChief

I wouldn't trade 1 first for Dez Bryant.

There are 2 situations that aren't being reported where Dez is involved that if either gets out, he will immediately be out of the league.

pray tell?

[BossChief]

The police have been to his house 6 times in the last year.

He is lucky that Jerry has thrown a shitton of resources toward shutting it down and there's a reason JJ is reluctant to sign him to a big deal with big guarantees.

[Dante84]

Originally Posted by BossChief

The police have been to his house 6 times in the last year.

He is lucky that Jerry has thrown a shitton of resources toward shutting it down and there's a reason JJ is reluctant to sign him to a big deal with big guarantees.

And what are the 2 situations that would have him thrown out of the league that no one is reporting?

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by DA_T_84

And what are the 2 situations that would have him thrown out of the league that no one is reporting?

I don't know enough about the details to make statements, but trust me when I say he wouldn't even be an NFL player if they were being reported by espn.

Both occurances are 20x worse than Ray Rice/Adrian Peterson.

[ct]

Originally Posted by BossChief

I don't know enough about the details to make statements, but trust me when I say he wouldn't even be an NFL player if they were being reported by espn.

Both occurances are 20x worse than Ray Rice/Adrian Peterson.

[Kman34]

Originally Posted by BossChief

I don't know enough about the details to make statements, but trust me when I say he wouldn't even be an NFL player if they were being reported by espn.

Both occurances are 20x worse than Ray Rice/Adrian Peterson.

Sex with animals??

[BossChief]

Turn on Colin Cowherd if you don't believe me

He's talking about it

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by Numbah One

If we've learned anything, it's that overpaying for a WR when you don't have a QB is not a good idea.

Dwayne Bowe is 1/10 the receiver Dez Bryant is.