Buffalo Bills Shouldn’t Use Franchise Tag on Stephon Gilmore
By Ryan Brennan
The Buffalo Bills have the option to franchise tag Stephon Gilmore and the window to do it started yesterday. Would it be a smart move, though?
It’s very possible that we hear some big-name NFL players being hit with the franchise tag in the next month. If the Buffalo Bills were to place it on any player, it would definitely be Stephon Gilmore. Both sides have struggled to find common ground in past negotiations and it wouldn’t surprise me if Buffalo went this route.
At the same time, I wouldn’t be extremely excited about it and there are a couple of reasons for it.
First off, let’s make sure we all understand the three different types of “tags” and what each of them mean.
The most common tag is an “exclusive” franchise tag. ESPN’s Kevin Seifert broke down exactly what this means:
"“Any player with this tag is bound to the team for the upcoming season. His agent is prohibited from seeking offer sheets elsewhere. It is the average of the five-largest salaries at the player’s position through the end of the current year’s restricted free-agent signing period (April 21 this year), or 120 percent of the player’s salary the previous year — whichever is greater.”"
The second kind of tag is the “non-exclusive” franchise tag, again explained by Kevin Seifert:
"“In this scenario, players can sign an offer sheet with another team. The original team has the opportunity to match that offer and retain the player under those exact terms, or it can allow the player to leave in exchange for two first-round draft picks from the new team. It is the average of the five-largest salaries at that position from the previous season, or 120 percent of the player’s previous year’s salary — whichever is greater.”"
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As far as the Buffalo Bills and Stephon Gilmore go, the decision to place him under the franchise tag will be solely based on whether or not Doug Whaley and Sean McDermott want him in Buffalo. If they do, the franchise tag wouldn’t be a bad option.
The Bills are most likely going to send Gilmore an offer this offseason no matter what, but there’s a very low chance that it’s an offer Gilmore and his agent will like. With that being said, there is a very low chance that the Bills retain Gilmore without giving him the paycheck he wants.
Exclusive Franchise Tag
Let’s say contract negotiations don’t go anywhere, but the Buffalo Bills still don’t want to lose Gilmore. They could opt to place him under the “exclusive” franchise tag. It would sign Gilmore to a one-year contract (which he wouldn’t agree to otherwise), but would come at a price of around $14 million (which is around what he’s asking for).
The Bills would get another year to decide if he’s the man for a long-term contract and would guarantee that no other teams can negotiate with him until next season.
If the Buffalo Bills want to keep Stephon Gilmore, but don’t want to sign him to a long-term contract, then the exclusive franchise tag is the way to go. On the other hand, it would still cost $14 million and that’s a lot of money that could be used elsewhere.
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Non-Exclusive Franchise Tag
Let’s say contract negotiations don’t go anywhere and the Buffalo Bills are unsure of whether they want to sign Gilmore to a long-term contract. They could place the non-exclusive franchise tag on him. It would come at a larger price ($15 million) and bigger salary cap hit, but would allow Gilmore to receive offers from other teams.
If Gilmore were to sign an offer sheet from another team, the Buffalo Bills would have five days to match that offer or else they would lose him. The bright side to that is the Bills would receive two first-round draft picks as compensation if they don’t match.
This would also give the Bills a chance to see what the market is like for Gilmore, which could give them some leeway in future negotiations.
Conclusion
In my opinion, I think the Buffalo Bills are better off not using the franchise tag on Stephon Gilmore and letting him find his money in free agency. Whether the Bills use an exclusive or non-exclusive tag, Gilmore will be a due a lot of money and that was the issue to begin with.
There’s always a chance that Gilmore enters free agency and doesn’t receive the offers he thought he would. He has already spoken out, saying that he “wants to be wanted,” so there’s a possibility that he doesn’t get what he wants elsewhere. If that were to happen, the Bills could bring him back for a discounted price.
Even then, it still might be too much money that could be used for more-needed positions upgrades.
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Do you think the Buffalo Bills should franchise tag Stephon Gilmore? Leave your thoughts below!