The NFL’s window for 2023 franchise tags opened on Tuesday. Teams can place a one-year franchise (or transition) tag on one player between Feb. 21 and March 7 ahead of the NFL’s free agency negotiating window that begins on March 13.
For the Denver Broncos, the only logical candidate for a tag this year is defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones, but even he seems unlikely to get the designation. Tagging Jones as a defensive end would cost the Broncos $19.73 million in 2023 salary cap space.
Denver might make such a move to buy more time in negotiations (something they did in the past with safety Justin Simmons), but that would be a risky decision. If a player receives a tag, their team has until July 15 to negotiate a long-term extension. If a multi-year deal is not signed before the July deadline, the player is locked in to play on the tag that season.
So if the Broncos placed a tag on Jones and weren’t able to get an extension done before mid-July, Denver would take a $19.73 million cap hit this season. It’s hard to imagine the Broncos being willing to do that.
Jones has a projected market value of about $14.5 million per year, so the team could realistically give him an extension and end up with a much lower cap hit than the tag would carry.
Denver has not yet made a decision on Jones’ tag status, and they probably won’t make a decision until closer to the March 7 deadline. Unless they are confident it’s just a stepping stone toward a long-term deal, though, the Broncos seem unlikely to use the tag on Jones this spring.
Follow the Broncos Wire Podcast:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Google Podcasts
