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Patriots among majority of NFL teams not using franchise tag

Print | Comments () Posted by Shalise Manza Young, Globe Staff March 4, 2013 04:10 PM

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By Shalise Manza Young, Globe Staff

The Patriots opted not to use their franchise tag for the 2013 season; the NFL deadline to designate a franchise player for the coming season was 4 p.m. Monday.

But New England was not alone: only eight teams opted to tag a player, a far cry from the record 21 who used it last year.

It is the first time since 2008 that the team has not used the tag.

There were three players who were candidates for the Patriots' tag: WR Wes Welker, CB Aqib Talib and OT Sebastian Vollmer. But tagging any of the three would have been cost prohibitive -- the tag for cornerbacks is $10.854 million, and offensive linemen is $9.828 million.

Since Welker was New England's franchise player for 2012, franchising him again would cost 120 percent of his salary from last year. At $9.515 million for '12, the number for Welker for '13 would be $11.42 million.

The Patriots now have to make a decision whether to attempt to re-sign the three.

New England has used the franchise tag eight times.

The next date on the NFL calendar is March 12, when contracts expire at 4 p.m. and free agency officially begins.