NFL Spin Zone
Fansided

Grading every NFL player given the franchise tag in 2022 offseason

By Khari Demos

NFL Free Agency; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin (14) runs into the end zone for a touchdown in the first half against the New York Giants at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
NFL Free Agency; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin (14) runs into the end zone for a touchdown in the first half against the New York Giants at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 8
Next
NFL Free Agency
2022 NFL Free Agency; Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams (17) walks off the field after a NFC Divisional playoff football game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /

The 2022 offseason has truly begun now, as teams placed the franchise tag on key players. Here are some grades on each tag from Tuesday’s deadline. 

Some love the franchise tag, some absolutely hate it. Regardless of your stance, it is still a way that NFL teams build their rosters each season. This year, we had eight candidates receive the tag on Tuesday, as they will play on a salary this season that averages out with the top five player salaries for their respective positions.

I understood where some of these moves came from, but others made me pause a bit. Here are some of my thoughts on the 2022 tags.

NFL Franchise tag grades: Which players are worth the price?

WR Davante Adams — Green Bay Packers

If you were napping in the late morning Tuesday, you might have missed the Pack bringing back the NFL’s winner of the last two league MVPs in Aaron Rodgers. A lot of the reason Rodgers was able to win his third and fourth MVP trophies was because of the man suiting up in No. 17.

Adams has been more than dominant in his career. After leading the league in receiving TDs in 2020, he followed that up with career-bests of 123 receptions and 1,553 yards this past season, going along with 11 TDs. It was the third time in the last four seasons he’s surpassed the 1,300-yard mark and it was his fifth season hauling in double-digit TDs.

His advanced numbers are even sillier than that. On 318 targets over the last two years, Adams has only had four drops in that span. Since the start of 2018, Adams has garnered a 116.8 passer rating when targeted, including a league-high 136.0 rating in 2020 for players that had over 1,000 yards receiving.

So how good of a move is it bringing back arguably the top wideout in the game? It’s tremendous. But the fact that he wasn’t brought back on a long-term deal is also concerning. Yes, Green Bay has a lot of cap gymnastics to work through with being roughly $30.5 million under the cap, but Adams is more than deserving of a top-receiver-in-the-game deal.

But he’ll be back for at least the 2022 season. Let’s just hope he can play the way he has in the past this coming season, and injury-free at that.

Grade: A-

Home/NFL