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Originally Posted by general counsel
Strategy question on the tag for pace. If we have until march 15th to sign him, why do we tag him now, instead of waiting until closer to the deadline? Is the point to prevent him as a practical matter from getting offers from others?
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The deadline to apply the franchise tag is February 22nd. While we have until March 15th to sign him before the blackout begins, if we didn't franchise him by the 22nd, then he'd be able to entertain offers from anyone come the beginning of free agency on March 2nd.
I'm tempted to believe that franchising him now is meant to be incentive for him to finalize the hiring of a new agent, which he has yet to do. I don't figure there's much the Rams can do in terms of negotiations until Pace decides on a new agent, and maybe this was meant to tell him that he needs to do that fairly soon.