Gaston Gazette

Franchise tag might go to someone other than RB DeAngelo Williams

February 4th, 2011, 4:54 pm · Post a Comment · posted by sreed

I wrote in this blog a few days ago that it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Panthers use the franchise tag to protect RB DeAngelo Williams.

However, a league source told me on Friday that it’s not a lock right now that the tag will go to Williams, meaning the Panthers could tag one of the team’s other potential free agents. My guess is if the Panthers don’t decided to use it on Williams they will consider tagging either DE Charles Johnson or C Ryan Kalil. I don’t see them using it on LB Thomas Davis (coming off two ACL injuries), QB Matt Moore (shaky performance last year) or CB Richard Marshall.

At this point, I’m told, the Panthers haven’t decided who to tag.

We’ll let you know when they do.

The NFL sent out a notice to teams that they have from Feb. 10-24 to use the franchise tag, although it’s unclear if the franchise tag will be a part of the next CBA.

Here’s the interesting thing about free agency: In the past teams needed to sign their free agents before the start of the new year, which this year falls on March 4, to prevent them from hitting the open market. The Panthers are among the many teams waiting see what happens with the new CBA before re-signing their own free agents.

That’s a little bit of a risk because if a new CBA is reached after March 4 the union could argue that everyone not under contract prior to March 4 should be free to change teams, essentially giving all of Carolina’s free agents a chance to sign elsewhere. But most believe that once a new CBA is reached teams will then have a small window to re-sign their players before the actual free agency signing period begins.