Beginning Feb. 22, the Arizona Cardinals and the rest of the NFL were able to use the franchise or transition tags on one player scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent when the new league begins March 16.
The deadline to place such a tag on a player is Tuesday, March 8. One particular candidate for the tag is outside linebacker Chandler Jones, whose five-year contract with the Cardinals is set to expire.
However, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, while they do with to sign Jones and have him return for at least another season, they are not expected to use the franchise tag on him like they did in 2017.
Jones had 10.5 sacks in 2021, but only 5.5 after Week 1, when he tied a franchise record with five sacks in a game. He is the Cardinals’ franchise record-holder for sacks in a career.
He made $15.5 million in salary last year but because his cap hit was over $20 million, his 2022 salary under the franchise tag would be nearly $25 million because of the rule that requires the player to get 20% more than their cap hit the previous year.
He is 32 years old and likely still wants a high-paying, multi-year deal. The Cardinals want him back but also know they need to get younger at the position.
He may begin to negotiate with other teams on Monday next week if he and the Cardinals fail to agree on anything before then.
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