NFL franchise tag 2021: 10 players most likely to be tagged

9. Franchise tag candidates – Giants DT Leonard Williams

This is another guy who received the franchise tag a year ago. The New York Giants opted to tag Williams to justify their decision to trade a pair of draft picks for the underachieving defensive tackle and the gamble paid off in spades.

Williams had a breakout year in 2020, racking up career highs in sacks (11.5) and quarterback hits (30) as he became a terror on the Giants’ defensive line. This type of performance is what most experts thought Williams would provide at the NFL level when he was taken sixth overall by the New York Jets in 2015, showing that a change of scenery was key to unlocking Williams’ potential.

New York paid a shade over $16 million to retain Williams under the tag and he can easily top that figure if he hits the free-agent market. A second tag would cost the Giants just under $20 million to keep Williams, which the franchise has to do after he became a key cog in the defense.

The idea of the second tag would be that it would simply be a placeholder for the Giants to work out a long-term contract with Williams. GM Dave Gettleman has always been a big fan of Wiliams and is sure to try and keep him around for the next few years.