As of Tuesday, Feb. 20, teams can begin using the franchise or transition tag. They’re allowed to tag one designated pending free agent to retain for a set amount in 2024, so long as the player obliges and signs the tender to play on a one-year contract.
Like just about every other team in the NFL, the Rams have used the franchise tag in the past, but they haven’t done so since 2018 when they tagged Lamarcus Joyner. It’s not that they’re against using the franchise tag. It’s just that they haven’t exactly had a pending free agent worth using the tag on, given the high one-year cost that comes with it.
Looking at the team’s group of pending free agents in 2024, no one should expect the Rams to use the tag this offseason. In all likelihood, it’ll be their sixth consecutive year without using the tag.
Their top free agent is guard Kevin Dotson, who they acquired in a trade with the Steelers last offseason. As badly as the Rams would like to re-sign Dotson and keep him in Los Angeles, they won’t be willing to pay him the $19.885 million that would come with tagging him. That’s simply too expensive for a guard, with only two guards in the NFL making more than that.
Ahkello Witherspoon, Jordan Fuller and John Johnson are among the Rams’ other pending free agents, too, but none of the three would be worth the high cost of the franchise tag. There’s no chance the Rams would tag any of them.
With no viable candidates for the tag, it’s almost certain that the Rams will pass on using it. They’ll either let their free agents hit the market or sign them to new contracts in order to keep them. The tag won’t be a realistic option for Los Angeles this offseason.