This report makes no sense, but it’s being reported anyway — the Green Bay Packers are considering using the franchise tag on receiver Greg Jennings.
Wha?
NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport is the source, so the report carries a little weight.
Interesting to hear the #Packers are still considering franchising Greg Jennings. Thought that ship had sailed. Apparently not.
We thought that ship had sailed too. And so did Jennings — he put his Green Bay home on the market in January. There have been no reports of contract negotiations between the Packers and Jennings since early in the 2012 season. Jennings has openly lobbied for a job with the Miami Dolphins and, oh by the way, he wants way more money than he’s worth.
Using the franchise tag would pretty much make all of that moot.
The $14 million per season Jennings wants? Well, too bad. The franchise tag would pay around $10 million for a one-year deal. The stalled contract negotiations? No negotiations necessary with the franchise tag. Jennings either has to sign it and play in Green Bay or sit out the year and not get paid.
All that being said, the move makes very little sense for the Packers.
The team has a little more than $20 million in salary cap space. Half of that will evaporate once they sign their draft class and restricted free agents. So they’re going to give the rest of it to Jennings?
What’s more is, they’re going to give a receiver who’s about to be 30 and has missed 11 games over the past two seasons $10 million? Depending on what the exact number is, the contract could give Jennings the highest salary on the Packers, which also seems absurd.
Thankfully, using the franchise tag isn’t part of Ted Thompson‘s usual M.O. We’re hoping “considering” means looking at all options and then moving on to a better one, in this case.