Seahawks don’t use franchise tag, as expected

The deadline for NFL teams to use the franchise or transition tag past Monday afternoon, and as expected, the Seahawks did not tag any of their pending free agents. That means players like defensive end Michael Bennett, receiver Golden Tate and kicker Steven Hauschka will all become free agents March 11 unless they agree to contract extensions with Seattle between now and then.

Seahawks general manager John Schneider had said during the NFL scouting combine that it was unlikely his team would used the franchise tag, and the amount doing so for either Bennett and Tate—$13.116 million for defensive ends and $12.312 million for receivers—would have made such a move financially prohibitive for a team that is also looking to re-sign many of its key young players over the next two offseasons. The one outside chance for Seattle using the tag before today’s deadline was Hauschka because the franchise number for a kicker, $3.556 would have been a bit easier to swallow. In the end, however, the Seahawks did not tag a player for fourth straight offseason.