I have a theory that I haven’t seen discussed yet. I think it’s possible we might use the franchise tag on Chris Jones two seasons in a row. The average salary of the top 5 DT’s is $17.6M. We can make that work for next season, but not long term. We can’t afford a 4/80 or 5/100 contract with Jones under any circumstances that doesn’t make massive sacrifices on the rest of the field. However, we CAN afford $17M one season only.
The second franchise tag means we’d have to pay Jones 120% of his salary from the first tag, which doesn’t make sense. In short, I think we tag and keep jones this year, make another run at a Super Bowl, and then tag and trade him in 2021.
This works out well because we can fill CB spots and build the line/ find replacements over two draft periods.
Edit: 2020 franchise tag salary for a DT is $16.7M.
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/a...-tags-in-2020/