Raiders set themselves up to not need to use Franchise Tag

As expected the franchise tag window came and went with the Raiders keeping theirs in their pocket. They put themselves in the position to where they didn't have a need to use the tag so once the deadline approached, they weren't even in the discussion.

The one player on the roster who the team may have seriously considered applying the tag was Marquette King and on with a day left until the deadline, King signed a 5-year $16 million deal. His $7.75 in guaranteed money far exceeds the $4.57 million he would have made this season under the Franchise tag. And the Raiders get their highly rated punter locked in for 5 years. As Jason La Canfora said, it was a "no brainer".

Following his contract signing, I asked King about if there was any discussion of the team applying the franchise tag on him.

"When it came to the franchise tag, I didn't really look into all that," King said. "I think what I was focused on was just doing these offseason workouts I've been doing. Just getting my body on point. I usually let my agent handle all that and I tell him 'whatever news comes up, like whatever's final, then come back with that and let me know'."

Michael Crabtree would probably have given the team serious consideration, but they locked him up to a long term extension during last season.

The only other forthcoming free agent the team could have considered ensuring he returns is Donald Penn, but at $13.7 million in guaranteed, that was not going to happen.

This is the third straight season the Raiders have gone without using the franchise tag. The new regime used the tag on Tyvon Branch in their first offseason in 2012 and haven't used it since.

To see those teams who used the franchise tags and on which players, click here.

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