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In what most of us in Colts-land expected, the Colts have used their franchise tag on Punter Pat McAfee, according to Pro Football Talk:
Colts have franchise tagged P Pat McAffee, we're told.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 1, 2013
Spelling aside, this is good news for the Colts, who I assume are trying to sign McAfee long term, and this just buys them some more time. If a long-term deal is not completed before the middle of August (I think that's the date), he'll be punting for $2.98 Mill next season, a nice 128% raise from the $1.305 Million he made in 2012. We think McAfee will be quite all right with playing with the tag, as he told PFT last week:
From last week's PFT Live, @patmcafeeshow says his dad will "kick my ass" if he complains about franchise tag wp.me/p14QSB-7sEK
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 1, 2013
McAfee is coming off back-to-back seasons setting the Colts franchise record for Yards per Punt, punting 46.1 yards per in 2011, and besting it in 2012, booming them on average 47.95 Yards, besting Rohn Stark from 1985. We all want McAfee to stick around these parts, as he's really good at something we all hope he doesn't have to do very often. While it mostly gets ignored, I can't remember a time he's had a bad hold on a TD or FG either. He's well worth the money, even at nearly $3 Million next season.