While the Patriots continue to be the toast of the town, they will face some difficult decisions going forward in their quest to repeat as Super Bowl champions. One of the first things they will need to address is their own free agents.
Teams can designate their franchise or transition players beginning Feb. 19, and have until March 5 to do so.
The franchise tag is a one-year offer to a player for the average of the top five salaries at the player’s position over the last five years, or 120 percent of the player’s previous salary, whichever is greater.