Foster transitioned! (wow!)

Here is the ESPN report when we stuck the tag on him.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nfl&id=2342422

Foster is now guaranteed $5.13 million next season if he doesn't sign a long-term contract. Foster can still talk to other teams when the NFL's free agent period starts next Thursday, but the transition tag gives Carolina the right to match any offer.

 

What's your opinions as to whether he will/should sign the tender? Or how quickly? Advantages/disadvantages to team/player?

 

If he signs, he has a job for one year. Of course it pays fairly well but it doesn't give the long term security that someone with a checkered injury history should look for. He could then negotiate a long term deal but he would only be dealing with us.

 

Read the thread, genius.


And regarding this discussion, as I said several pages back, I'm pretty sure that the tag cannot be withdrawn once signed but the player can still be cut (so can franchise-tagged players, which may happen with John Abraham if the Jets can't trade him).

 

Can Foster sign the tender right away, and thus guarantee himself $5 million this year? I thinking no:

The "shall be deemed" and "automatically tendered" language in the first paragraph, combined with the "shall tender" language in the second, suggests to me that the Panthers are not required to give Foster anything to sign until June 14. The tender is understood to exist and is required to materialize then--if the Panthers haven't withdrawn the tag--but the team is not required to give him anything to sign until then. If true, then both the Panthers and Foster have until June 14 to see what the market offers. If neither party comes up with anything better as that date approaches, one presumes the team will talk to Foster about a win-win long-term deal based upon what the market has shown.[Edit: Oops! Not possible until July. See next post.] If that does not succeed, and the Panthers do not withdraw the tag, then there will be a month (June 14-July 15) during which Foster can either sign the Panthers' one-year tender or continue to negotiate with other teams for a better deal. If July 15 is reached without either party taking action on the tender, then Foster can sign it or he and the team can continue to pursue a different deal with each other.

If I'm reading this right (and I certainly could be off), then the Panthers really do hold most of the cards. Between now and June, the market will do them two favors: It will lower Deshaun's expectations and it will provide some other reasonable prospects at RB. If another team makes Foster a crazy offer, they can have him. If not, he should be easier to sign to a reasonable long-term deal. He can't just sit on a signed $5 mil. tender, because he can't sign it until June 14. If he's received few offers from other teams as June arrives, the Panthers could just withdraw the tag and work with him under the now-apparent market reality.

Am I wrong? I hope not ('cause the above beats the alternative), but I wouldn't be surprised.

 

Correcting myself just a bit:

That keeps Deshaun from "coming home" under a more reasonable deal until July. But it still appears the team could withdraw the tag anytime up to June 14 without giving Foster a chance to actually sign for the $5 mil. figure. By that time, he and they would still be able to see what the market is saying about his value.

 

The only reference I find to the March date is in the CBA Extension and it relates to the Franchise Tag as follows:

Franchise Players -

Beginning in the 2002 League Year, teams will have a window beginning the day after the last day of the Franchise Player designation period and ending at 4:00 p.m. New York time on the fourteenth day following the start of the League Year during which, if the team signs its Franchise Player to a multi-year contract, the team may nonetheless retain its Franchise Player designation rights the following year. (By way of clarification, if the League Year begins on March 1, the window will end at 4:00 p.m. New York time on March 15.) If a multi-year contract is not signed during the window period, the current rules continue to apply without prejudice or inference being drawn from this modification in the CBA.

 

With or without the March date, it seems the critical question is whether or not Deshaun can sign the $5 million tender before June 14. If he can sign right away and lock the Panthers into such a large contract for a player with his performance history, then I'd have to agree that the team's penchant for loyalty got the better of them. If, as looks more likely to me, the team won't actually have to put the papers in front of him until June 14, then this appears to be a smart move on the organization's part, as it keeps the most options open for them at relatively little risk.

 

a related story

 

Sounds like the ESPN article is really just confusing Franchise language with Transition. Their researchers probably need to reread the CBA. Transition offer no guaranteed money.