When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

I can't remember. Ever since Loomis has been around it is always at the very last minute but a deal eventually gets done. I can't remember the last time we had a key player we let play under the tag?

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

A Deal will get done in the 10 Mio. / year range.
Super backloaded and hopefully with incentives!

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

i could care less play him tagged. tag him again next year also if you have too.

incentives? rate of beating CB coverage? Blocking? :p

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

To answer the question, there is a marquee player who played under the franchise tag just last year. He is a safety and he is on the Saints roster.

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

With the Saints WRs this season (especially Brandin Cooks) Graham might not have to beat CBs very often.

On blocking, however, he has to do a better job there... so the opposing defense can't discern whether is a pass or run when Graham is in the game.

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

We use the Tag pretty sparingly. We tried to tag Brees, but I don't think we have used at all since Grant in the mid 2000's

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

So you tie your salary cap into knots for a year or two, pay the player upwards of $15 million, and then let him walk away to complete his HOF career elsewhere with no compensation?

From a cost standpoint it would be smarter to release him from the tag and allow someone else to sign him for $12 million a year. Playing under the tag is a cap disaster for the Saints.

The way that it's supposed to work is that in a contract year (which is the prior season) that a player is supposed to play up to his value. The 86 receptions, 1215 yards, and 16 TD (leading everyone in the NFL last year) are all on the top lists for single season for a TE in the history of the NFL.

That's playing up to your value. BTW all done on a foot injury.

Keeping Graham from a long term contract because of blocking is like failing to pay Brees because his handoffs look funky. It's simply not where the value of the player resides.

SFIAH

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

Tried to tag Brees?

New Orleans Saints place franchise tag on quarterback Drew Brees | NOLA.com

The Saints did tag Brees. They had to. Otherwise he would have been a free agent.

Getting tagged in March and playing under the tag in September are two completely different things.

That's why the upcoming July 15th deadline is so crucial. It's the final date that a long term deal can be signed. After that the only options are to play under the tag, or not play at all.

SFIAH

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

I don't think Graham could become a HOFer anywhere else besides New Orleans. It's the system that helps him strive and the position could be filled (not replaced) by a player with a much lower price tag.

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

I'll take that bet; there are many teams that use their tight-end extensively in the pass game.

Patriots, 49ers, and even the Cowboys come to mind as teams that wouldn't have to go out of their way to accommodate Graham in their system...

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

Brady would love Jimmy
seeing how Gronk is out so much

thank God that will never happen

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

Soooooo the answer is?

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

He pigeon holes the offense. We are actually better when defenses don't know where the ball is going the majority of the time. I hope we get back to the later. It keeps him healthy and our receiving corp stronger.

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

For us, I thought it was Charles Grant 2007, but that was when we signed him to that monster 2 months after
Marquee? not really

here's the wiki link with everyone who has been tagged

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

Hmmm. Dallas (Witten), Green Bay (Findley), SF (Davis), NE (Gronk), Cleveland (Jordan), Denver (I can't remember the kid's name right of the top of my head), San Diego (Gates) are just a few examples of extremely productive tight ends in today's game. Graham could easily get equal production to his current production in any of these systems.

There is this misguided thought that you can plug anyone in and they will be as productive. Same is said for Colston for example.

But the truth is that it's the players that makes the system work, not the other way around.

Finally that ship is pretty much sailed. If the Saints really thought that way, then the smart move would have been to trade Graham while he was still under contract. The fact that we are here plainly says that both Loomis and Payton (and without a doubt Drew Brees) all think that the player is worth the investment. They had chances to go in a different direction. They did not take them.

I feel (which means I may be wrong) that a lot of folks believe that just because it's a lot of money, just shut up, take it, and make our team better while being underpaid to do it. As I've stated before there is a $4.5 billion/yr salary pie to be split between less than 2000 players. That's an average of $2.2 million a year. Last year JG made $1.2 million on a rookie contract while being in the top 5 category of all pass catchers and #1 tight-end across the board.

NFL Network pointed out yesterday that Dwayne Bowe of KC has a $11+ million salary. The numbers comparison is plain pitiful:

Bowe: 57 rec 672 yds 5 TDs
Graham: 86 Rec 1210 yds 16 TDs

And this was just last year. Bowe has been in the NFL 3 years longer than Graham. Graham has exactly 3 less career TDs (44 to 41) than Bowe in 48 less games.

It's not just the system people. Don't think you'll plug in Josh Hill into that slot and get the same production because of the system.

Graham deserves every penny he's going to get.

SFIAH

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

Why wouldn't that happen? I bet NE has more 1st round pick flexibility than most. I hope you're right, but NE would be one of those teams that I could see doing it...

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

Darren Howard DE .... didnt we tag him n then the next year he went to philly ?? ? ?

Re: When is the last time a marquie player actually played under the tag?
 

It's been said before but..........we won a Superbowl without him.