Cameron Heyward isn’t mincing words when it comes to one of the NFL’s most familiar contract tools.
The veteran Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman took aim at the franchise tag in a recent interview, calling the policy “stupid” and arguing that it puts too much leverage in the hands of teams.
“Stupid,” Heyward said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.
“It hampers players,” Heyward added. “Why should any team be able to take advantage of a player for one year? It’s used in negotiations, and I think between the player options, the franchise tags, the way they control rookies, I think it’s kind of backwards… If a player is at the top of his position, he should be paid that way.”
Heyward, who sits on the NFLPA executive committee, was speaking about a system that allows teams to keep a player from reaching unrestricted free agency by attaching a one-year guaranteed contract to him. The tag is often used on high-end players while a team tries to work out a longer deal.
There are three versions of the franchise tag. The non-exclusive tag is the one teams use most often, and it gives a player the chance to negotiate with other clubs, while the original team can match the offer or collect two first-round draft picks if it lets the player walk.
The exclusive tag shuts down outside negotiations entirely. The transition tag works a little differently, giving the original team first refusal but no draft-pick compensation if it declines to match an outside offer.
However they’re applied, the tags are all designed to keep players under team control - and Heyward made it clear he doesn’t like that part of the system.
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