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Today, February 16, is the first day that NFL teams are able to place the franchise tag on a player, and they have from now until March 2 to do so. Essentially, the franchise tag is something that locks up a free agent to be for at least one year for a team.
The start of the franchise tag window brings up the question of whether the Colts will use the tag this year or not. Last year they didn't tag anybody, but in 2013 punter Pat McAfee played under the franchise tag - which was a smart move by the Colts, albeit a rare one for an NFL team to use the tag on a punter. In 2012 they used the tag on Robert Mathis, though the two sides quickly agreed to a long-term deal. And in 2011, the Colts franchised quarterback Peyton Manning while they worked out a long-term deal that, as it turns out, Manning would never play a game under. As you can tell with just that brief, recent history of the Colts' franchise tag, the designation is used for players who are crucial to the franchise (thus the name "franchise tag"). Is there any free agent to be that is crucial to the Colts? Let's take a look.
Here's a list of the Colts' unrestricted free agents:
UFA (Unrestricted Free Agents) - No restrictions, the player is a free agent and is free to sign with any team
- Reggie Wayne, WR
- Cory Redding, DE
- Hakeem Nicks, WR
- Matt Hasselbeck, QB
- Darius Butler, CB
- Fili Moala,DE
- Joe Reitz, OL
- Josh Gordy, CB
- Sergio Brown, S
- Andy Studebaker, LB
- Colt Anderson, S
- Mike Adams, S
- Ahmad Bradshaw, RB