Baltimore Ravens: Justin Tucker Should Play Under Franchise Tag

The Baltimore Ravens and kicker Justin Tucker have yet to come to an agreement on a long-term deal. At this point, Tucker should play under his franchise tag and renegotiate next season.

Justin Tucker is the present-day Matt Stover. A Baltimore icon in the making. That might be weird to say about a kicker, but not when you are the best the NFL has to offer.

Tucker is the second-most accurate kicker in NFL history. He is looking for his first payday and he has done everything necessary to get paid like the top man in the league. The fact that the two sides haven’t come to an agreement could mean Tucker sees even more dollar signs in the horizon.

There are multiple reports around the web that both the Ravens and Justin Tucker are hopeful that a deal will get done by Friday’s deadline. However, if I’m Tucker, I’m playing this thing out.

By signing the franchise tag, Tucker will earn $4.572 million this season. His long-term future is still be in doubt, but that’s a massive payday for him as he’s made $3.796 million in his first four years in the league.

Tucker finds himself in a position of power. He knows he’s making money this year regardless. He also knows that if he was tagged again next offseason, his salary would rise to nearly $5.4 million. That’s $10 million in guaranteed money in two seasons.

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The $10 million number is important because that is the amount of guaranteed money New England Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski earned in his four-year, $17.2 million contract last offseason. The contract is the highest ever for a kicker and Tucker is expected to get a deal that would rival Gostkowski.

Tucker has an opportunity to not only get a better deal, but shatter the market for kickers in the NFL. If he has another Tucker-like season, he will have earned it.

Sure, there is the potential that Tucker has the worst season of his career and costs himself some serious money. That’s the gamble he would take by playing under the tag. But from what we have seen leading up to this point, unless his leg is amputated, he will perform.

The Ravens have the cap space to take on his franchise tag number with roughly $13 million in cap space. It also would not be unheard of for a kicker to play under the franchise tag. Phil Dawson and Mike Nugent played under the tag during the 2012 season.

Baltimore has used the franchise tag on four other players – Chris McAlister, Haloti Ngata, Ray Rice and Terrell Suggs – and each eventually would sign a long-term deal. However, the Ravens needed an extra year to come to an agreement with McAlister and Suggs. Tucker could be looking at the same.

There is little reason to believe that Tucker is not in the Ravens’ future plans. Teams do not let guys of his caliber walk, even if it’s a kicker. We still remember too well Billy Cundiff missing that field goal in the AFC Championship game.

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It might not be today or before tomorrow’s deadline that Tucker will sign a new deal. It could be a year from now that he finally gets it. If he is looking at what’s best for him financially, play this year out and hit the jackpot next offseason.

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