Houston Texans will not likely use franchise tag on Kareem Jackson

The Houston Texans don’t plan to use their franchise tag this year on cornerback Kareem Jackson.

The Houston Texans haven’t used their franchise tag in seven years, and it looks like their going to keep that streak going.

According to NBC Sports Pro Football Talk, the Texans don’t plan to use their franchise this offseason. Honestly, the only potential player to be tagged for the Texans would be pending free agent cornerback Kareem Jackson. The Texans are hoping that they can reach a long-term agreement before the free agency period comes.

Jackson is a five-year NFL veteran for the Texans since being drafted in the first-round out of Alabama. This season, Jackson started 13 games, compiling 48 solo tackles with 9 assisted tackles to go along with 9 passes defensed and 3 interceptions.

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For a team that doesn’t have an exceptionally strong secondary, it will be very important for the Texans to lock Jackson up long-term. While they say that they don’t plan to use the franchise tag, it seems they would be prepared to use it as a last resort if the two parties can’t agree on a deal before free agency. That would give the Texans and Jackson more time to come up with a long-term deal.

Jackson apparently feels the same way. While appearing on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Jackson said that he would prefer not to be tagged.

"It is something I would rather not do. I want to be locked in long-term with some stability. I really haven’t put much thought into being tagged."

The last time the Texans used their franchise tag was back in 2008 on cornerback Dunta Robinson.

If Jackson were to be tagged, he would be locked in to a one-year deal with a guaranteed salary of more than $13 million. Jackson says that his agent has been in talks with Texans general manager Rick Smith and everything seems good so far. He is hopeful that a deal with be done before free agency.

It will be interesting to see though if Jackson and his agent decide to wait until the three-day period right before free-agency officially opens where pending free agents are allowed to talk to other teams to see what other offers are on the table. They are not allowed to sign with another team until free agency officially opens, but they can talk to other teams to see what kind of deals they can get. Jackson and his agent may decide to wait and see what other offers are out there, that way they could possibly leverage a better deal with the Texans.

I’m sure the Texans want a long-term deal done as soon as possible, as they really can’t afford to lose Kareem Jackson.

H/T NBC Sports Pro Football Talk

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