Shaq Lawson
Franchise Tag Salary for DE: $19,316,000
The next player that could be considered for a franchise tag is defensive end Shaq Lawson. He was a first round pick by the Bills in 2016 but only started to show flashes of his potential this past season. He finished the year with career high in solo tackles (21) and sacks (6.5).
While a franchise tag would keep Lawson in Buffalo for another season, it would have to be viewed as a major mistake by this front office, which is something they haven’t had many of to this point.
The reason that a franchise tag of Lawson would be a mistake, is that the Bills elected to not pick up the fifth-year option of the defensive end which was expected to be in the $10 to $11 million range. If they were to go tag Lawson now, it would cost them nearly double.