Now that the 2015-2016 season is officially over, the offseason will start moving very quickly into the new league year which is now one month away. Prior to the start of the new league year, however, NFL teams will need to designate any franchise or transition players starting on February 16 with the deadline being 4 p.m. EST on March 1.
While the Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t expected to use the franchise or transition tag this year on any of their unrestricted free agents, there will be other teams around the league that will make use of the mechanism. For example, one of those teams, the Denver Broncos, are expected to use the franchise tag on Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller.
Several months ago, former NFL agent Joel Corry worked up a list of projected franchise tag amounts for all of the position groups based on an estimated 2016 salary cap number of $154 million. While these numbers are far from official, they should be close as the final salary cap number that will be released in a few more weeks will likely be around $153-$155 million. As you can see, the franchise tag amount for Miller will be roughly $14.131 million.
Much like the Steelers, most of the teams around the NFL won’t use a tag this year. Below is the top list of players who have the best shot at being franchise or transition tagged in a matter of a few weeks.
Broncos LB Von Miller
Panthers CB Josh Norman
Jets DE Muhammad Wilkerson
Bears WR Alshon Jeffery
Bills T Cordy Glenn
Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul
Chiefs S Eric Berry
Chiefs CB Sean Smith
Dolphins DE Olivier Vernon
Buccaneers RB Doug Martin
Seahawks T Russell Okung
Redskins QB Kirk Cousins
Bengals T Andre Smith
Rams CB Janoris Jenkins
| PROJECTED FRANCHISE TAG NUMBERS, 2016 | ||||
| POSITION | CURRENT | SALARY CAP PERCENTAGE | PROJECTED | CHANGE |
| Cornerback | $13,075,000 | 8.985% | $13,838,000 | 5.83% |
| Defensive End | $14,813,000 | 10.061% | $15,494,000 | 4.6% |
| Defensive Tackle | $11,193,000 | 8.68% | $13,368,000 | 19.43% |
| Linebacker | $13,195,000 | 9.176% | $14,131,000 | 7.09% |
| Offensive Line | $12,943,000 | 8.882% | $13,678,000 | 5.68% |
| Punter/Kicker | $4,126,000 | 2.944% | $4,534,000 | 9.89% |
| Quarterback | $18,544,000 | 12.823% | $19,748,000 | 6.49% |
| Running Back | $10,951,000 | 7.708% | $11,871,000 | 8.4% |
| Safety | $9,618,000 | 6.959% | $10,717,000 | 11.43% |
| Tight End | $8,347,000 | 5.879% | $9,053,000 | 8.46% |
| Wide Receiver | $12,823,000 | 9.434% | $14,527,000 | 13.29% |
