Tuesday is franchise tag deadline day in the NFL and two of the league’s best defensive players have seen themselves tagged by their teams.
Franchises across the NFL have until 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday to issue their franchise tag, which they can use on a player who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next week. The tag then binds the player to the team for a further year, if certain conditions are met.
Tee Higgins became the first player to be tagged this offseason when the Bengals used their non-exclusive franchise tag on the wide receiver on February 26.
All was then quiet on the franchise tag front across the league until 24 hours before the deadline when the current Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, used their non-exclusive tag on L’Jarius Sneed, their standout cornerback who played a key role in their Super Bowl run.
However, Sneed is set to leave the Chiefs after the team gave him permission to discuss a trade. Should that fail to materialise, then the fourth-year defensive back will earn $19.8million with the Chiefs in the 2024 season.
On deadline day, a second stellar defensive player has been tagged, with the Carolina Panthers confirming on Tuesday afternoon that they have placed the tag on two-time Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Burns.
The Panthers will now pay Burns more than $24million for the upcoming season to prevent him from entering free agency.
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