How about 3 Franchise Tags?

I've actually thought much about expanding the number of tags for each team. It would be nice on occasion to keep up to three players, maybe more. I believe that the franchise tag is one of the more exciting options we've added through the years. No doubt made Draft Day more intriguing. But what affect would such a change pose to the league? That’s the question we have to toil with when deciding any such question.




I like the idea of rewarding individuals, who have done an outstanding job of acquiring talent during the season, but we must also be measured as well. What about those teams that weren’t so fortunate or wise? How long must they suffer for any misguided choices they’ve made? It is a balancing act, to be sure, between the reward of wisdom or luck and the penalty of poor or unfortunate choices.

Two franchise tags allow any team to at least carry over some talent, their two best players, from the previous year. It is a reward, but it may also force a choice. If a team has acquired more than two players worthy of a franchise tag, they must choose who to keep. It also creates potential trade opportunities, we’ve seen this already. Adding a third tag would alleviate or dilute this process. There would no longer be the stress of choosing two players from three or four. I mean to say, it’s easier to pick and hold one’s top three players than it is one’s top two.

A dominant team may arise. I’m all for dominance, especially if it is me doing it, but we must be careful not to allow it to go too far. I’m aware that the “Three Year Rule” acts to reign in any such would be dynasty, but still, even three years is a long time. (For those new, or who may not know, every player must re-enter the draft every three years. It is an absolute.) Now, with sixteen teams, I worry about the increasing potential of a dominant team rising. With sixteen teams, talent gets divided amongst more teams and the free agent market becomes thin. This creates an environment for either great parity or great dominance. The ability to keep three players from one such dominant team, even for three years, would, I fear, be extremely harmful to the competitive nature of the league.

We must be careful of impulsive whims. No one suffers more from this then me. I’m always looking for new things to add, new ways to do things, or even better ways to do the things we’re already doing. My current subject of thought revolves around something we may have done years ago. What if the league scoring was Touchdowns only? What if we didn’t score for yards or receptions, but for scores only? Would that be better? More or less exciting? Our league scores would be more realistic, 28-22. The only thing that would matter would be scoring. No more cheap receptions at the end of the half. No more negative scores. No more completion/incompletion business. It’d simply be whose team scored more touchdowns. Would that be more fun, competitive, or fair?

I’m by no means saying don’t make any changes, just be cautious of those that you consider. We made plenty of changes this year and so far I think they’ve worked out quite well. Four divisions and sixteen teams has been better, I think. One less starting position has been the right choice, I think. A fourteen week regular season with a three week playoff will be the right choice, I think. Although, next year, all that will change again if the NFL goes to a nineteen week regular season, but we’ll make the necessary changes. Defensive scoring seems ok. I’m not sure it’s perfect yet, but we’ll evaluate it and listen to any suggestions. I’d like to change one of the flex positions next year. I’d like to make one of them where a team could play a TE there, if they so chose to. Essentially a WR/RB/TE position, Yahoo allows it. The other flex would remain WR/RB. It might help through the bye weeks, having the ability to play two TEs.

What if everyone wanted to make it three franchise tags? Well, I know for a fact not everyone wants that, but for arguments sake, let’s say they did. The important point to make is this. To do that, every team would have to re-draft from scratch. Meaning, no tags allowed at next year’s draft. It would be unfair and disingenuous to take this year’s roster and carry it over with those changes in mind. Remember when we instituted the franchise tag? We cleaned the slate with a fresh draft. We did not carry over the roster from the previous year. All the teams drafted with the knowledge that they could, if they so wished, tag up to two players from that draft class or any players they acquired via the free agent market. Adding one more franchise tag, to the two we already have, would essentially be the same as adding the original franchise tags a few years back. I seriously doubt we’d find a consensus amongst the teams to do that. I seriously doubt Jimmy is prepared to lose P. Manning, that Bang would give up Brees, or that Matt would throw Peterson back into the draft just to add a third franchise tag.

One last note, because we draft in a snake design, meaning down and back, two franchise tags works better than three. If everyone were to franchise tag two players, the worse team, meaning the team that won the lottery, still has the first pick of the draft. With three tags, and everyone tagging three, the best team would have the first pick of the draft. To me that seems backwards and wrong.

All in all, there have been years where I wanted to keep more than two. Hell, I’ve wanted to keep my entire team before. For competitive balance, however, I think we must stay true to the two franchise tag rule. I think two tags have allowed teams to carry over rewards from previous seasons without hampering the opportunity of success for others. I believe, and I’m not alone, that any more than that would severely cripple the competitive balance and make the league much less enjoyable for all.

I do want to make this last final point.  I remain open and eager to any and all ideas from anyone in the league.  Be it football, basketball, or baseball, I'm interested in your ideas, concerns, and suggestions.  Our leagues do not remain fun and exciting by standing still and staying put, but by being open, flexible and nimble.  So do not hestitate to text, email, call, or leave a comment for me.
 
**NOTE** I underlined "anyone" in the above paragraph.  That really means anyone or everyone except Chad or Kyle... I dont give a shit what they think.
 
Preview for this week is on its way, good luck to everyone during the 2nd round of divisional play.