The first piece of the Patriots' huge offseason fell into place on Tuesday when the team reportedly placed the transition tag on safety Kyle Dugger.
Dugger, at a minimum, will earn $13.815 million for the 2024 season. That would be 9th among all NFL safeties by AAV.
The transition tag, which was first reported by ESPN, means the Patriots only have a right of first refusal if another team signs Dugger to a contract. The Patriots could only match. If they don't, the Patriots would not receive any compensation.
A non-exclusive franchise tag would cost $17.123 million and the compensation would be two first-round draft picks.
Since the Patriots used one tag on Dugger, they can't tag guard Mike Onwenu. That means Onwenu is going to get paid well — either by the Patriots or someone else.
What does this all mean?
BSJ ANALYSIS
The transition tag is rarely used, but that doesn't mean it's not effective.
When you have as much cap space as the Patriots, you can afford to use the transition tag. You can get in trouble screwing around with it (as opposed to just using the franchise tag) if you are tight on the cap and the other team bakes that into their offer - and the tagging team can't match and the player walks. The Patriots are in no danger of not being able to match any offer on Dugger. So the transition tag makes sense.
The Patriots' decision also illustrates that there's a pretty wide disparity between Dugger and the Patriots on his value. Tony Pauline reported the Patriots made Dugger an extension offer at $13 million a year. He obviously disagreed. The transition tag is basically the team telling Dugger, "Ok, we think our offer is fair but go find that better offer. If it's not there, our contract offer is still on the table."
(Giardi here: The two sides have been apart on Dugger's contractual value dating back to last offseason. I don't see it as contentious, or at least that's what I've been led to believe, but a lot of time has passed without being able to sufficiently satisfying either side.)
It is sort of nickel-and-diming the player, which I don't love and as Robyn Glaser's and Jonathan Kraft's fingerprints all over it (they're looking out for every million dollar in this case), but that doesn't mean it's the wrong decision.
When you have two players who are worthy of the tag like Dugger and Onwenu, you usually tag the player where the disparity on pay is the greatest. Hopefully this means Onwenu and the team are close to an agreement on an extension. If not, Onwenu is going to get a huge offer elsewhere and likely be gone. That would be a huge blow to an offensive line that needs almost a total rebuild.
Other tags around the league (all franchise):
Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals WR (possible tag and trade)
L'Jarius Sneed, Kansas City Chiefs CB (reported tag and trade)
Brian Burns, Carolina Panthers EDGE
Justin Madubuike, Baltimore Ravens DT
Antoine Winfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers S
Josh Allen, Jacksonville Jaguars EDGE
Jaylon Johnson, Chicago Bears CB