UPDATED: No Franchise tag for Finnegan

[Tampa_Ram]

NFL Free Agents: Franchise Tag Coming For Cortland Finnegan

by Ryan Van Bibber on Mar 2, 2012 7:23 AM PST in NFL Free Agents 2012


Mark Humphrey - APMore photos »
Tag! The Titans will use the franchise tag to keep cornerback Cortland Finnegan in 2012.


Well, so much for that. The St. Louis Rams were widely considered a favorite destination for Tennessee Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan. Not anymore. According to Jason LaCanfora, the Titans will apply the franchise tag to keep Finnegan for 2012.
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It was also reported this morning that the Falcons will use the tag on cornerback Brent Grimes, taking two of the biggest names off the free agent market.
What will the Rams do now?

The Finnegan news is a bit of a shock. For weeks, the Nashville press reported that the Titans would not use the $10 million or so in cap space to franchise Finnegan.
Why the last minute change? Easy, good cornerbacks are hard to find, and Finnegan is one of the best.
Without Finnegan on the market, the Rams free agent priorities change significantly. Eric Wright, mentioned earlier, could be an inexpensive, upside option that they might not have to count on as a starter.
Brandon Carr, unless he is tagged or re-signed by Kansas City, will be the cadillac option in free agency, commanding big money. Some second-tier options include Carlos Rogers, Tracy Porter (who defensive coordinator Gregg Williams knows well from his time in New Orleans) and Richard Marshall.
Keeping Bartell may also be an option now. Of course, it makes the Morris Claiborne pick in the 2012 NFL Draft much more attractive for the Rams.

[AvengerRam]

Adam Schefter disagrees (via Twitter):

Titans will not place their franchise tag on cornerback Cortland Finnegan, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent

[RamSoup]

I trust Adam Schefter over Van Bibber, lets hope his sources are right!!

[Tampa_Ram]

I hope Shefter is right, i would like to get him. Lets hope the article is wrong.

[AvengerRam]

Van Bibber is quoting Jason LaCanfora, who is often wrong.

[ZiaRam]

Was about to say dam... I would of liked him for our teaoff CB and have Bartell for the second WR, Murphy and Fletcher on the inside WR's and Hood for the fifth WR... not a bad CB lineup at all!!!

[39WillRunYaOva]

Gooo sheftyy!! lol.I rlly hope they dont tag him i want courtland really bad,imagine him and claiborne lined up across from each other??Can u say lockdown lol

[ManofGod]

If this is true (which I doubt) then this would be a sad state of affairs, but Carr & Porter are not bad #2 options.

[ZiaRam]

anyone have any info on this?

[Nick]

I've altered the title to reflect the uncertainty of the situation at present.


EDIT: According to the Tennessean...

With the clock ticking down to free agency, the status of cornerback Cortland Finnegan remains unchanged from last week: No long-term deal is in the works, and the Titans still have no plans to place the franchise tag on him.

[ZiaRam]

Nice to hear that news Nick.. hopefully it stays the same..

p.s. anyone know if Courtland is a both sides of the defense corner?

[ManofGod]

Nice to hear that news Nick.. hopefully it stays the same..

p.s. anyone know if Courtland is a both sides of the defense corner?

Nope, he only plays the right side.

[xpmar9x]

This is wrong. Titans are franchising Griffin (sadly)

[xpmar9x]

Nice to hear that news Nick.. hopefully it stays the same..

p.s. anyone know if Courtland is a both sides of the defense corner?

Nope, he only plays the right side.

He actually played 80% (rough estimate) in the slot. Titans ran a ton of 3CB sets.

[mcpeepants232003]

yeah Titans not franchising Finnegan and not even talking to him right now. As long as we give him a good offer he should be a Ram.