BROWNS PUT FRANCHISE TAG ON PHIL DAWSON

That means he will be with the Browns for at least one more year and get paid 3.9 MILLION BUCKS, That has to bite Hillis in the @SS because the Browns only offered Hillis 10 million over 3 year but it was heavy with incentives, we all know he hasnt took that offer yet and fired his agent over that, guess he isnt so sure of his NFL abilities or if he thinks he can stay injury free, I am betting he wishes he took the Browns original offer early last year and if I can rember right it was for 3 years and 13 million ( something like that) if anyone knows for sure please post and refresh my memory.

That's crazy money for an old kicker.

Kickers arent easy to come by these days, at least good ones and although Dawson hasnt been picked for a pro bowl IMO he is a damn good kicker and has earned that pay check over the years, he has been with the Browns since coming back in 99 and has been through some crap getting the shit beat out of him year after year plus he is the only one on the team that understand that putting points on the board is actually a good thing. If there is a better kicker out there in the free agency or the draft please let me know and we can talk about his 3.8 or 9 mill contract for one year.

Why not just put a first round tenure on him and see what he brings? If it's that kind of money they could match and keep him.

BTW, if another team would snag a franchised player they give up more then one 1st rd pick, I dont know what it all involves but I think there are 2 or 3 picks invovled taking a franchised player,I'll have to see if I can find the rule on that, if you find it let me know and I'll do the same.

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• A club can designate one [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] or one [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in any given year.

• The salary level offer by a player's old club determines what type of franchise player he is.

• An "exclusive" franchise player -- not free to sign with another club -- is offered a minimum of the average of the top five salaries at the player's position as of April 16, or 120 percent of the player's previous year's salary, whichever is greater.

• If the player is offered a minimum of the average of the top five salaries of last season at his position, or 120 percent of the player’s previous year’s salary, he becomes a “non-exclusive” franchise player and can negotiate with other clubs. His old club can match a new club's offer, or receive two first-round draft choices if it decides not to match. The signing period for non-exclusive franchise players to sign with new clubs is March 3 through November 9 (10th week of the season).

• A transition player has received a minimum offer of the average of the top 10 salaries of last season at the player's position or 120 percent of the player's previous year's salary, whichever is greater.
• A transition player designation gives the club a first-refusal right to match within seven days an offer sheet given to the player by another club after his contract expires. If the club matches, it retains the player. If it does not match, it receives no compensation. Transition players can be signed from March 3 through July 22."

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The NFL's system of Franchise Tags and Transition tags can seem complicated, but this resource explains the difference between the Transition and Franchise ...
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Here ya go bro, this should help a lot better then me not knowing WTF I was really talking about,

I still believe that with Dawson not being a top ten kicker or for that matter a top 15 kicker for his position, and the fact that he's 37 years old the Browns are over paying to keep him. Even if a team would snag him up, another first round pick would make giving up two first rounders a lot easier to do.

Its a one year contract not 5, and agai, there arent and free agent kickers or and in the draft that are as good or better, and IMO Dawson is easily a top 10 kicker.

Dawson onlt kicker 7-8 from 50+ yards in 2011 and 7-8 from 40-49,3-4 30-39 and 7-9 from 20-29 and 20 for 20 on xpm, what more do you want from him, oh yea, and his leg was hurt as well for 3-4 games and still went out and did everything the Browns asked him to do for a team that dont know what the end zone is for, he is only the teams leading scorer each year in and out, worth every penny.

Now if you want to talk about a player thats being over paid lets talk about Hardesty.

I like Dawson. I just don't think he's worth one of the highest salaries for a kicker in the NFL. I also think that at his age no team would have offered him any kind of a long term contract let alone 3.8 for a year, as I recall not one team tried to get him last year under a cheaper franchise tag.

Dmounts wrote:I like Dawson. I just don't think he's worth one of the highest salaries for a kicker in the NFL. I also think that at his age no team would have offered him any kind of a long term contract let alone 3.8 for a year, as I recall not one team tried to get him last year under a cheaper franchise tag.

Phil Dawson wasnt a free agent last year.

His last contract was for 5 years at 7.1 million with a 1.8 million signing bonus

Dawson will make 3.25 million this season since they franchised him.

wyckedheart8 wrote:

Dmounts wrote:I like Dawson. I just don't think he's worth one of the highest salaries for a kicker in the NFL. I also think that at his age no team would have offered him any kind of a long term contract let alone 3.8 for a year, as I recall not one team tried to get him last year under a cheaper franchise tag.

Phil Dawson wasnt a free agent last year.

Then why did the Browns put the franchise tag on him last year?

Nope he'll make 3.81 million. The normal kicker tag is $2.665 million, but Dawson costs $3.81M because he played last year as the Browns' franchised player.

He was a non Exclusive franchise player, and anyteram signing him as a non exclusive franchise player would have to give up 2 first round draft picks to sign him, no one is going to give up 2 first round picks for a kicker, even if he is 26 years old.

I think its a sad day when the kicker is your only free agent worth franchising.

So yes I was wrong, Dawson was a free agent last year but he was a RFA and when the Browns put the franchise tag on him ( making him a non-exclusive free agent) it meant that ant team making an offer the Browns decided not to match that that team would have to give up TWO of their next first round picks for him.

Dmounts wrote:I think its a sad day when the kicker is your only free agent worth franchising.

Yea, it sucks for our Browns, but then there are times when teams have key players signed and not the FG kicker and they have to franchise him, its rare but hey, most teams dont blow 1st round picks year in and year out like the Browns did their first 10+ years back since 1999, I just hope that has stoped with Holmgren, we will see with the nagotiations with the Rams for RG3, DAMN I HOPE WE GET THAT LITTLE BASTARD!!!!

Dmounts wrote:I still believe that with Dawson not being a top ten kicker or for that matter a top 15 kicker for his position, and the fact that he's 37 years old the Browns are over paying to keep him. Even if a team would snag him up, another first round pick would make giving up two first rounders a lot easier to do.

One thing you over look...He knows how to kick in the crappy conditions in Cleveland Browns Stadium....He's been worth his weight in gold IMO.

Believe me I've sat in the cold and seen him kick. I still don't believe a kicker is worth almost 4 million a year.