ANDRE BALWINTEMPLE, TX
Why do teams use the non-exclusive franchise tag rather than the exclusive franchise tag?
Bryan: It has to do with money. An exclusive tag blocks any team from talking to your player but it comes at a much higher franchise number. That extra money might keep you from executing other deals if you cannot get a long term deal done.
David:The non-exclusive tag means Dez will play for just below $13 million. Had the Cowboys used the exclusive tag, it probably would have cost just a bit more than $13 million. It's not a huge, huge difference, but it gives them a chance to save some money. You might think it's risky, but the odds that an interested team is going to give up two draft picks and pay Dez a monstrous contract are not great.
[embeddedad0]
KENNETH PARKS IIGREENSBORO, NC
With the Patriots planning on not re-signing Vince Wilfork, would he be a viable option or would his asking price be too high as well? He's been in the league for 12 years, so would he be willing to take a lower price tag on a good team for a chance at championship?
Bryan: Feeling in the league is that Wilfork wants to return to the Patriots, but I also know that the Patriots don't want him back – stay tuned to see how that plays out. As for the Cowboys, Wilfork has played in both a 3-4 and 4-3 scheme but in my view his better fit would be as that 3-4 nose. The free agency plan here is try and find players that can play one or two seasons then move on without spending large amounts of money. Wilfork might take a discount for the Patriots but not for anyone else.
David:You might think that because he's an older player and he's about to get cut that Wilfork won't cost a lot of money. I'm going to go ahead and disagree. He's still a high-caliber player, and he plays a position with a longer shelf life. I think he'll probably be out of the Cowboys' price range. But man, it'd be fun to see him eat up double-teams for Tyrone Crawford.
