Colts Don’t use Their Franchise Tag, What Does it Mean?

The deadline to place the franchise tag on a player has come and gone. The Colts decided not to use theirs. What does that mean?

The franchise tag is one of the starts of free agency. When teams start tagging players, it means that free agency is right around the corner. The deadline for teams to place the franchise tag on players passed on Tuesday at 4pm. But what does that even mean?

Teams can place the franchise tag on one player per off-season. They can only do it when a player is up for unrestricted free agency. When a team places the franchise tag on someone, it is essentially a one year deal. The player is paid on that tag based on the top five average salaries of other players at that…