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Bengals | Smith named franchise player
Thu, 15 Feb 2007 12:32:03 -0800 KFFL.com

The Cincinnati Bengals have announced they have tagged free-agent DE Justin Smith as their franchise player.

Im glad they didnt tag Steinbach.

The thing that jumps out at me is that they will be committing nearly HALF of their cap space on Smith if a deal can't get done...

Bengals designated DE Justin Smith as their franchise player.

Smith and his agent have expected the move and shown no resistance, so it seems they're willing to work out a long-term deal. Otherwise, Smith, who had 7.5 sacks and forced one fumble in 2006, will be grossly overpaid under the one-year, $8.6 million tender. The Bengals will also have committed nearly half their cap space if no other deal can be struck. Feb. 15 - 3:43 pm et

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/Hea...aspx?sport=NFL

He probably raced to his agents offer to sign that.. long term or not, that's hard to pass up. It also puts the pressure on them to come up with a long term deal.

Question: Let's say that Smith signs a long term deal tomorrow. Can the Ben-gals remove the franchise tag from him and put it on Steinbach?

Anyone know?

No question about it. But with the tag prices going up, it tends to take the sting out of it for some players. Heck I'll take a couple torn MCL's an ACL and I'll even let you throw in a torn pec if you hand over that check.

I believe they can remove the tag from a player, but they cannot franchise anyone else.
Once they use the franchise tag they are done.

SHOW ERIC THE MONEY, PHIL...



I don't like this move but it's understandable, Smith is an underrated DE and made over 90 tackles last season which is impressive from the DE position...I'll like it alot better if we get a long term deal done but if we get caught with a 8.6 million cap hit, shoot me in the head

Thanks RoadDawg. I didn't want to worry about him signing a deal then Steinback getting franchised. I doubt we are able to sign Steinbach but having him on the market will make it more likely one of the other OG sign with us.

There are some things throughout this article that says that the Bengals are not going to be very active in Free Agency. They dont think they will resign Steinbach and have questions about his blocking of big DT's. I think that this is good for us. Cinci is just going to resign their own and Pitt + Balt are both low in cap space. A few quality free agents and a draft with a couple of good impact players then we should be able to close the gap some.

Smith gets franchise tag
Lewis: Allows time to strike long-term deal
BY MARK CURNUTTE | MCURNUTTE@ENQUIRER.COM

Bengals fans should not anticipate much free-agent turnover this offseason, and to prove their point, the club designated defensive end Justin Smith as their franchise player Thursday.

Though he will be an unrestricted free agent March 2, Smith's designation will make switching teams difficult.

By using the franchise tag, the Bengals have the right to match any offer sheet Smith would receive from another team, and if Smith were to sign with another team, they would receive compensation in the form of first-round picks in the 2007 and 2008 drafts.

In turn, the team is committed to paying Smith a one-year salary equal to the average of the five highest-paid defensive ends in the league; that amount is $8.6 million, according to figures released by the NFL Players Association during Super Bowl week.

"He has been a consistent performer and worker," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said of Smith in a statement released by the club. "This move helps us keep our core players together, and it gives us an opportunity to continue negotiating for a longer-term contract with Justin."

Earlier Thursday, Lewis said the Bengals were unlikely to be overly active in free agency.

"What did Indy do? What did Pittsburgh do? Not much," Lewis asked. "Our focus is going to be to get a couple of our guys re-signed and go forward."

Whether a player leaves by "attrition, (retirement) or injury," Lewis said, his goal continues to be to have backups ready to start as replacements.

The Bengals' other major unrestricted free agent is guard Eric Steinbach, a versatile offensive lineman who also started games at left tackle and center in 2006. Steinbach is expected to sign with another team early in free agency and be replaced at guard by Andrew Whitworth. There are questions inside the organization about Steinbach's ability to block big defensive tackles.

"Our guys, who played considerable snaps, if we don't re-sign them, we'll address that through free agency," Lewis said. "We're prepared."

The goal with a replacement would be to get younger and better, but Lewis cautioned that players leaving other teams are being let go for a reason.

Smith was believed to be drawing interest from the St. Louis Rams, in his home state of Missouri, and other teams.

His probable long-term return to the Bengals indicates that the defense will stay in a four-lineman scheme with three linebackers, instead of a switch to a three-lineman, four-linebacker set.

Attempts to reach Smith for comment Thursday were not successful.

Smith started every game in 2006, extending his streak of consecutive starts to 91.

Smith has played all six of his NFL seasons with the Bengals. In 2006, he led the defensive line in tackles (110) for the fifth consecutive season, and he achieved his highest career ranking (second) in the team tackling standings.

He had a 50-tackle lead over the second-place lineman (John Thornton). He ranked second on the team in sacks (7.5) and raised his career sacks total to 41, ranked fourth all time on the Bengals. He also had a line-best four passes broken up, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Smith was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2001 draft.

Each team has one franchise tag, and it is designed to limit the mobility of a team's top free agent while paying him among the elite players at his position.

"The franchise option is designed to help a team retain the rights to a top player," said Troy Blackburn, Bengals director of business development. "The players' union supports it because it guarantees that player a salary commensurate with what he has accomplished."

The league's collective bargaining agreement with the players' union permits a new contract between Smith and the Bengals to be reached at any time prior to July 15.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070216/SPT02/702160411/1066