Tyvon Branch to get the franchise tag from the Raiders

[UCHuskies08]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/01/tyvon-branch-to-get-the-franchise-tag/

New Raiders G.M. Reggie McKenzie is currently in slash-and-burn mode. But there are some Raiders that he wants to keep.

Jason La Canfora of NFL Network reports that safety Tyvon Branch has been informed he will receive the franchise tag. DeSean Jackson was the first player this year to officially get the tag on Thursday.

We’d argue that Branch is the best player in the Raiders secondary. The franchise number for safeties is relatively reasonable (under $7 million), so the move makes sense. This eliminates any consideration of Michael Bush for the tag.

It raises some question about whether the Raiders will retain safety Michael Huff, who is due to make $8 million in 2012. $4 million is guaranteed for Huff, so we’d guess that the team will keep Huff. (We also would have guessed the team would keep Kamerion Wimbley. And that’s not looking too likely.)

Branch is a ferocious hitter than can cover a lot of ground. Raiders fans don’t seem overly impressed with McKenzie’s moves so far, but we suspect they will like this one. They should.

Looks like he'll get a little under $7 million next season, I think he deserves a long term deal though.

 

[BNich]

Glad they are keeping him around. I'm a Raiders fan, and he was one of the only sure tacklers on a Terrible defense from a year ago.

 

[CAPS]

Good for him hopefully Dwayne Gratz follows in his footsteps.

 

[rw005]

Keep up that great work Tyvon, maybe someday when the NFL grows some balls and has a better system for the pro-bowl, you'll finally get there.

 

[sportsart]

Isn't the franchise tag used to keep one of your best players without having to pay him as much as the market dictates you should?

So he gets 7 mill for one year? That ain't no chump change.

Someone care to explain how this really works?

Any way you cut it, it looks like a big deal for one of our guys.

 

[kibblesnbits]

Unless the rules have changed it requires the team to offer a salary equal to the average of the top 5 players at the same position. So, the player gets paid as an upper echelon player. However, it's a one year deal. It can be particularly useful if the team expects to eventually reach an agreement with the player on a longer term deal. It can also be useful in the cases where a team wants to see the player show he can sustain his production for another year or to recover from an injury before they commit to such a long-term deal. The downside for the player is that an injury could ruin his chance for a long-term big money contract.

 

[J187Money]

The new rules are different but I can't articulate what they are off the top of my head.

 

[kibblesnbits]

Take a look at the beautiful picture that accompanies this article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/02/SPOD1NEUO6.DTL

 

[Palatine]

You can franchise one of your own free agents. But you have to pay him near the top of all players in the NFL at his position. There is a formula to determine the salary (the average of the five highest-paid safeties last season).

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[Waquoit]

That's gotta be a 1st, right? A franchise player that hasn't been named to the Pro Bowl.

 

[BNich]

That's gotta be a 1st, right? A franchise player that hasn't been named to the Pro Bowl.

I believe he was an alternate this year. They are in a tough spot financially, need to hang onto a few solid players on defense or else lose most of the defense. A lot of guys need to restructure. Al Davis left them with a lot of unorthodox contracts.