While several NFL teams have been slapping the franchise tag on their players, the Green Bay Packers won’t be using theirs.
There was speculation the Packers might use the tag on defensive end [intlink id=”163″ type=”category”]Cullen Jenkins[/intlink] or kicker [intlink id=”152″ type=”category”]Mason Crosby[/intlink], both pending free agents, but [intlink id=”20″ type=”category”]Ted Thompson[/intlink] obviously thought the cost was too great.
It would have cost the Packers a one-year deal at around $12 million to franchise Jenkins and would have cost around $3 million to franchise Crosby. The numbers are based on the average salary of the top 10 paid players at their positions.
Although Jenkins is a solid pass rusher and had seven sacks in 2010, he’s also 30 and has missed 17 games due to injury over the past three seasons. It would be surprising if Jenkins got an offer averaging $12 million on the open market and though the Packers may lose him once free agency begins, there was no reason to pay a 30-year-old defensive end not named [intlink id=”474″ type=”category”]Reggie White[/intlink] that much per season.
The same goes for paying the maddeningly inconsistent Mason Crosby $3 million per season. Crosby connected on 78.6 percent of his field goal attempts in 2010, which ranked 30th in the league, and has a career average of 78.1.