NFL franchise tag 2023: 10 players most likely to be tagged

1. Top Franchise Tag Candidates – Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson

Any NFL team in need of a quarterback has a close eye on what is going on with Jackson’s contract negotiations in Baltimore. Talks have failed to progress as Jackson, who is representing himself in the negotiations, is seeking a fully-guaranteed contract similar to the deal Deshaun Watson got from the Cleveland Browns last year.

The Ravens do value Jackson but have balked at that request, viewing Watson’s contract as an outlier rather than the standard franchise quarterbacks should aspire to. This situation has essentially become a stalemate, which should lead Baltimore to issue the exclusive rights franchise tag on Jackson by March 7.

That tag will pay Jackson a $45 million salary in 2023 but has a risk since repeated use of that tag leads to escalating salaries that become cost prohibitive in the long-term. This process is how Kirk Cousins got to free agency after Washington used the tag two years in a row, making a third consecutive tag impractical, and Cousins got a fully-guaranteed contract with the Minnesota Vikings.

Baltimore won’t want to lose Jackson for nothing in two years so expect them to continue to use the tag as a placeholder to buy more time in negotiations with their star quarterback. If talks fail to progress, the Ravens will have to decide whether it is worth putting Jackson on the trade block and collecting a bounty of assets to start the next era of their franchise.