Although no team has used it yet, the franchise label window opened a week ago and runs until March 9th. In general, there is a spate of labeling activities as the deadline approaches.
The Pittsburgh Steelers marked outfielder Bud Dupree on the 2020 deadline in hopes of working out a long-term deal. As we know, that did not happen, and Dupree was likely to join another team in 2021.
Franchise figures for each position are based on the 2021 salary cap, and the final number is still unknown. Teams are told that it will drop no less than $ 180 million – a far cry from the $ 198.2 price range by 2020 – so they are actually only estimating at this point, so some teams may hesitate to use the label.
Per OverTheCap, it is predicted that the linebacker value will be $ 15.65 million and a wide receiver value, $ 16.43 million. If Pittsburgh labels Dupree for a second consecutive season, its figure will be significantly higher than the expected one-year tender.
Clubs must pay 120 percent of the player’s previous salary to mark a player for two consecutive years. Based on his $ 15.8 million salary for 2020, Dupree would be paid $ 18.96 million for one season.
Many clubs, including the Steelers, are in the red. They will scramble until the last hour to meet at the start of March 17 of the new league year. This is not to say that Kevin Colbert, general manager, and his staff all knowingly handed out money left and right. Good teams will always act against it because they pay the best talent and often try to retain it. No one could have predicted that a global pandemic would turn the tide.
Which of Pittsburgh’s 25 independent agencies is likely to receive the franchise designation? There is no doubt that Dupree and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster are free agents who will retain the Steelers if they can.
If they could are the keywords here – because they seem to be can not. “I would say it is doubtful whether we will be able to use a label,” Colbert said recently in a call to the media in Pittsburgh.
‘Again, if we say we do not know what the ceiling is, we must prepare for the worst situation. At present we know that the capital under the CBA can not fall below $ 175 million. So we will always work in that mindset. We will play different scenarios and compile different scenarios in the case we are dealing with. ‘