The franchise tag is an interesting tool that every NFL team, including the Buffalo Bills, has in their back pocket.
It hasn’t been around forever. The NFL introduced the franchise tag in 1993. Along with the franchise tag, the league has a similar, less used, transition tag. Combined, the Bills have tagged five players in team history.
The franchise tag window is one of the first key dates on the NFL’s offseason calendar. It opened on Tuesday.
The franchise tag essentially locks a player into a one-year deal with a high salary. The idea of it is to give a team and player a longer time frame to work out a long-term deal before freeagency begins. The actual dollars and cents a player will make depends on the position they play.
Players are not always fans of it since they understandably want to have their future known and sorted. The team also has consider the finances attached to such a large sum of money.
It remains to be seen which NFL teams, including Buffalo, decide to use the franchise tag in 2025.
With that, here are the five times the Bills have tagged a player in team history:
OL John Fina (1996)
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John Fina was the first player franchise tagged by the Bills in 1996. The two sides worked out a long-term extension and he played six more seasons in Buffalo.
WR Peerless Price (2003)
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Peerless Price signed the $5M tag after the 2002 season but then departed for the Falcons via trade for a first-round pick in the 2003 NFL Draft. He eventually returned to the Bills after three years there.
CB Nate Clements (2006)
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After playing on the $5.9M franchise tag in 2006, Nate Clements departed the following offseason. He signed an eight-year deal with the 49ers which made him the highest-paid defender in the NFL at that time ($80M).
S Jairus Byrd (2013)
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A three-time Pro Bowler with the Bills, Jairus Byrd signed the $6.9M tag in 2013. He departed for the Saints prior to the 2014 season and injury issues followed. Byrd never reached Pro Bowl status again.
OT Cordy Glenn (2016)
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The last time the Bills used the tag was on left tackle Cordy Glenn. He never played on the $13.7M tag, as the two sides reached a five-year extension.
Glenn was eventually traded to the Bengals in March 2018 by Beane for a first-round pick which helped the Bills move at that year’s draft to select quarterback Josh Allen. Glenn did not play in the league by 2020.
