Will he sign the franchise tag today? I believe today at 4 is deadline.

Edit: he can't sign a long term contract after 4 today, but can sign the franchise 1 year tag still

What happens if he doesn't? Does that make him a FA immediately?

Surprised I haven’t seen anything about this until today. Interesting. I suppose if he walks it makes the signing of Mixon easier.

(07-15-2020, 11:13 AM)HarleyDog Wrote: What happens if he doesn't? Does that make him a FA immediately?

No, He just can't participate in team activities.

(07-15-2020, 11:21 AM)Yojimbo Wrote: No, He just can't participate in team activities.

Probably not a big deal then since there really hasn't been much team activities outside of zoom. 

(07-15-2020, 11:13 AM)HarleyDog Wrote: What happens if he doesn't? Does that make him a FA immediately?

Today is the deadline for the Bengals to be able to lock him up with another contract. There is no deadline to sign the franchise tag.

I don't think the team ever had any intention of extending him. I think they want him on a one year, prove it, deal and to help Burrow in his first year. Green has been great, but he's on the wrong side of 30 and now injury prone. We've seen the best of Green, his numbers will only continue to decrease into the future. You don't pay for what a player did, you pay for what they are going to do.

I'm 99% sure the deadline at 4 is for an extension to be worked in lieu of the tag, not a deadline for signing the tag itself. Basically if a multi-year deal can't be finalized by 4 o'clock then the the player is locked into the tag amount.

I think he has until sometime in Novemeber to actually sign the tag (would be paid % per games played) I know the Steelers went through this with Leveon Bell a couple years ago, where they were hoping he'd sign it at some point during the season. (He elected just to sit out the entire year)

I have to think AJ will sign his tag sometime soon, probably within the next two weeks. With everything surrounding the league with Covid the last thing you want to be is a player without a binding contract if the season is cancelled or postponed.

(07-15-2020, 11:25 AM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: I'm 99% sure the deadline at 4 is for an extension to be worked in lieu of the tag, not a deadline for signing the tag itself.  Basically if a multi-year deal can't be finalized by 4 o'clock then the the player is locked into the tag amount.

I think he has until sometime in Novemeber to actually sign the tag (would be paid % per games played)  I know the Steelers went through this with Leveon Bell a couple years ago, where they were hoping he'd sign it at some point during the season. (He elected just to sit out the entire year)

I have to think AJ will sign his tag sometime soon, probably within the next two weeks.  With everything surrounding the league with Covid the last thing you want to be is a player without a binding contract if the season is cancelled or postponed.

This is accurate so TY and Synric for clearing it up.

(07-15-2020, 10:37 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Will he sign the franchise tag today? I believe today at 4 is deadline.

Edit: he can't sign a long term contract after 4 today, but can sign the franchise 1 year tag still

Since he has already said he will sign the tag rather than let 18 million go, he'll sign it when he has to.

I thought it was pretty much a forgon conclusion that after this whole pandemic thing and the uncertantiy of the cap next year there was no way we resigned him before this deadline. I am not sure a Mixon deal gets done either based on similar circumstance as well as an abundance of HB talent in the draft next year and the potential free agent HB class. Unless Mixon is willing to take a deal similar to Melvin Gordon, I just don't think it'll happen.

(07-15-2020, 11:53 AM)Au165 Wrote: I thought it was pretty much a forgon conclusion that after this whole pandemic thing and the uncertantiy of the cap next year there was no way we resigned him before this deadline. I am not sure a Mixon deal gets done either based on similar circumstance as well as an abundance of HB talent in the draft next year and the potential free agent HB class. Unless Mixon is willing to take a deal similar to Melvin Gordon, I just don't think it'll happen.

The one difference in situations, is Mixon has said he will sit out the season if he doesn’t get a new deal.

(07-15-2020, 12:15 PM)Yojimbo Wrote: The one difference in situations, is Mixon has said he will sit out the season if he doesn’t get a new deal.

That's cool and all but that was before the pandemic. Any agent that lets him holdout with the current situation should lose their NFLPA certification. First, Melvin Gordon ended up losing 3.2 million in fines and lost salary from his holdout and ended up signing a below-market contract. Second, He can't sit a whole season and accrue a year of service, so he has to come back at some point. Now for the part that kills all his leverage, If he holds out and plans on coming back and accruing a season and the season gets cancelled at some point he'd be screwed. He would then not accrue a season and would have to come back next year, all while not getting paid (and getting fined) for trying it this year. 

Bottom line, he may posture but he will play this year, contract or not. That assumes he has competent representation, which I admit I know nothing of his representation. 

(07-15-2020, 11:24 AM)Yojimbo Wrote: I don't think the team ever had any intention of extending him.

I am a huge AJ fan. He was not only a great player but also a first class person.

But it would have been crazy to give him a long term deal with more than $18 million guaranteed.

Not really surprising, unfortunately. They couldn't agree to terms last off-season and with AJ missing the season, the Bengals would be inclined to offer less this year. There's zero incentive for AJ to sign a long term deal when he's tagged. The FT+whatever long term deal he signs next year is more guaranteed money than any long term deal the Bengals would offer this year.

(07-15-2020, 12:48 PM)Whatever Wrote: Not really surprising, unfortunately.  They couldn't agree to terms last off-season and with AJ missing the season, the Bengals would be inclined to offer less this year.  There's zero incentive for AJ to sign a long term deal when he's tagged.  The FT+whatever long term deal he signs next year is more guaranteed money than any long term deal the Bengals would offer this year.

Maybe. The only issue is if a season doesn't occur at all, or a severely shortened one, it could have catastrophic impacts on the cap and in turn cause a reset of contract values. Even spreading the shortfall over multiple seasons would result in a far flatter than projected cap situation than anyone had planned for. With AJ's age, I am surprised he didn't take the stability of a contract over the unknown of the current situation. I do wonder if the team pulled back their offer in light of everything going on.

(07-15-2020, 12:52 PM)Au165 Wrote: Maybe. The only issue is if a season doesn't occur at all, or a severely shortened one, it could have catastrophic impacts on the cap and in turn cause a reset of contract values. Even spreading the shortfall over multiple seasons would result in a far flatter than projected cap situation than anyone had planned for. With AJ's age, I am surprised he didn't take the stability of a contract over the unknown of the current situation. I do wonder if the team pulled back their offer in light of everything going on.

The bolded above is a huge intangible. Call me crazy, but I don't see the season being played until 2021. If so, it could have huge cap hit for players. Agents have to be concerned as cap is based on TV revenue. No season = no TV.

(07-15-2020, 11:13 AM)HarleyDog Wrote: What happens if he doesn't? Does that make him a FA immediately?

No. Just like Le'Veon Bell's franchise tag ordeal back with the Steelers, his options are sitting out all year or signing his tender.
He is not eligible to sign with another team until FA opens next year.

(07-15-2020, 12:33 PM)Au165 Wrote: That's cool and all but that was before the pandemic. Any agent that lets him holdout with the current situation should lose their NFLPA certification. First, Melvin Gordon ended up losing 3.2 million in fines and lost salary from his holdout and ended up signing a below-market contract. Second, He can't sit a whole season and accrue a year of service, so he has to come back at some point. Now for the part that kills all his leverage, If he holds out and plans on coming back and accruing a season and the season gets cancelled at some point he'd be screwed. He would then not accrue a season and would have to come back next year, all while not getting paid (and getting fined) for trying it this year. 

Bottom line, he may posture but he will play this year, contract or not. That assumes he has competent representation, which I admit I know nothing of his representation. 

After listening to Pat Kirwen, Mixon can't even miss a practice.  Under the new CBA, if he holds out for 1 practice, he doesn't accrue the year and the fines that come with holding out cannot be lifted either.  There's no chance that he'll hold out.

(07-15-2020, 01:18 PM)spidey Wrote: After listening to Pat Kirwen, Mixon can't even miss a practice.  Under the new CBA, if he holds out for 1 practice, he doesn't accrue the year and the fines that come with holding out cannot be lifted either.  There's no chance that he'll hold out.

Exactly. Mixon has no leverage. He needs to play his way into a better contract.