At 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, the NFL’s deadline to use the franchise tag expired. Six teams opted to use the tag—the Jaguars tagged Evan Engram, the Raiders tagged Josh Jacobs, the Commanders tagged Daron Payne, the Cowboys tagged Tony Pollard, the Giants tagged Saquon Barkley, and perhaps most notably, the Ravens tagged Lamar Jackson—but the Detroit Lions were not among those teams.
The franchise tag is typically reserved for one of a team’s most valuable players who has not come to a long-term agreement with the team and is on an expiring contract. The franchise tag buys the team more time to negotiate long term, while also having a one-year tender in place worth an average of the top-five salaries at that player’s position.