Heyward calls franchise tag 'stupid' as Porter Jr. deadline looms — SkimNews
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- Cameron Heyward called the NFL's franchise tag "stupid," saying it "hampers players" by letting teams take advantage of players for one year, and criticized how the system combines player options, tags, and rookie controls to keep leverage with clubs
- The franchise tag offers three options — non-exclusive, exclusive, or transition — as a one-year tender, with values tied to the top five (franchise) or top 10 (transition) salaries at each position, giving sides until mid-July to work out a long-term deal
- The 2026 franchise tag for cornerbacks was valued at $21.16 million versus $18.12 million for the transition tag, a steep gap from Christian Gonzalez's new $33.75 million average annual salary that made him the highest-paid cornerback in the league
- Joey Porter Jr. has not committed to playing in Sunday's opener against Atlanta if no deal is reached, telling reporters Sept. 1 he needs to "talk to the guys upstairs and my agents about that," and was activated off the PUP list on roster cutdown day after an aggravated back injury
- The Steelers' depth chart lists Porter Jr. "or" Asante Samuel Jr. as the starter opposite Jamel Dean, with coach Mike McCarthy citing sub-packages and defensive flexibility for the ambiguity
- Heyward, an NFLPA executive committee member who has lived through several last-minute negotiations, said he wished deals got done earlier in the offseason, ideally in February, and stressed that locker room leaders are keeping the group focused amid the uncertainty
Why it matters: Heyward is speaking as an NFLPA executive committee member, giving his grievance institutional weight rather than locker-room venting — and his team is simultaneously weighing the very tool he's criticizing. The $12.5 million gap between the $21.16M cornerback franchise tag and Gonzalez's $33.75M top-of-market deal quantifies the leverage players say the tag strips away.
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