Quote:
Originally Posted by dadmg
I wouldn't be so certain of that. More than a few recent franchisees have been able to hold out on signing their franchise tender until the team made a contractual agreement not to franchise them again the following year. At this point, its not a certainty that franchising him again would be an option.
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But in all those cases the team needed the player on the field more than the player needed it. In essence it was a one year team rental.
In Dunta's case I don't think they applied the tag because they needed to keep him. They applied it because they were unwilling to let him walk in FA with no recompense. Smith already showed he is willing to upset Dunta and use the tag. I'd be shocked if their is a deal to not use it again. Right now we have all the leverage. We seem willing to go forward with him unsigned but tagged. If he doesn't play he hurts himself far more than he hurts us.
He will almost certainly sign with us and play this year at some point. If there was a team willing to give him a new deal and trade for him, then it would have happened already.