Ravens probably won't tag Adalius Thomas

[palmmyjohnson]

From SI NFL Truth and rumors. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/scor....nfl/index.html

Makes me think we shouldn't have tagged Smith so we could aggressively go after Thomas.

[Stripes]

Thomas would be great to have, but not at the cost he'll demand. I'd have been against pursuing him even had Justin not been tagged.

[SkinneymulleT]

How long does Smith have to sign and when can we retract the tag if he doesnt? Bigger opportunity here may be with Jamall. Wow! having that beast in the backfield with rudy and cp...he cant be demanding that much as a felon, ex pro bowler but still enough gas left in the tank to be our bus. No one could stop us inside the redzone!!!!!!!!

[Kazkal]

Can pull the tag at any point until it's signed.I'd love to have Thomas as our WLB odell MLB and Brooks SLB...but I don't wanna give 40+million dollar contract to a 30+ player...ya thomas is a freak but its only so long tilll he starts losing gas like Bsimms....so i'll keep justin and if we want a LB we can draft Willis or Timmons and have high play for 10 years rather then 2.

[Stripes]

How long does Smith have to sign and when can we retract the tag if he doesnt?

July 15th I believe... but I highly doubt the Bengals retract the tag if it comes to that.

[Whur CHad At?]

I expect Thomas will remain in Baltimore some how.

[James_Brooks21]

How long does Smith have to sign and when can we retract the tag if he doesnt?

July 15th I believe... but I highly doubt the Bengals retract the tag if it comes to that.

Read the following statement slowly and take it like it was written in stone. The Bengals are not even going to try to sign Adalius Thomas and that's great on their part that they are not. Adalius is getting up there in age and we have enough of those guys that we have brought in. The thing that we should be celebrating is the fact that it looks like he will not be a Raven next year, that makes there defense a little weaker. Not as big of a deal if they lost Ray Lewis.

Also believe me we don't want Jamal Lewis, we need a homerun threat, someone who can catch screens and make people miss and Jamal is not capable of that anymore.

[BengalByTheBay]

Maybe it's just the striped glasses I'm wearing, but I would rather self-castrate than see Jamal Lewis become a Bengal. Also, I don't know much of anything about the inside game on this one, but I would be shocked if the Bengals made any serious move to get Thomas.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

Thomas went from being way underrated to way overrated in about a month and 3 articles featuring him. He's very good, but not for what he's going to ultimately sign for.

[Kazkal]

Another thing is...Marvin diden't want thomas the first time he he the FA market where he would have been alot cheaper and backer was more open...so why would he want him now when hes that much older

[ShulaSteakhouse]

I'd go after someone like Shaun O'Hara at Center if he doesn't work it out with the Giants instead.

I'd also sacrifice Anheuser Busch boy to do it.

[Kirkendall]

How long does Smith have to sign and when can we retract the tag if he doesnt?

July 15th I believe... but I highly doubt the Bengals retract the tag if it comes to that.

Smith doesn't have to sign at all if he doesn't want to. Also, I'm not sure you can franchise a player and retract. Once you name him, it's official. The deadline was today (Thursday). You might be able to retract BEFORE the deadline. But not now.

In other words, you can't remove a franchise tag for the purpose of giving it to someone else after the deadline passes.

The July 14th date you're referring to is the deadline for a franchise player and the team to agree to a long-term deal. You can't negotiate with a franchised player after that date.

[Whur CHad At?]

I wish we could renegotiate that $8.6 million salary

[Thurmanation]

I wish we could renegotiate that $8.6 million salary

Same, thats so redicoulus..i cant get over how much that is..and how many better DE's there are in the league not getting near that.

[HoosierCat]

Smith doesn't have to sign at all if he doesn't want to. Also, I'm not sure you can franchise a player and retract. Once you name him, it's official. The deadline was today (Thursday). You might be able to retract BEFORE the deadline. But not now.

In other words, you can't remove a franchise tag for the purpose of giving it to someone else after the deadline passes.

The July 14th date you're referring to is the deadline for a franchise player and the team to agree to a long-term deal. You can't negotiate with a franchised player after that date.

I'm pretty sure the Bengals can still pull the tag if they like -- of course that would make Justin a UFA immediately, so buh-bye. But no, you can't "switch" tags after the deadline, for obvious reasons (it's *after* the deadline...).

If Justin signs the offer, then the Bengals are stuck. They can't pull the tag. But as far as I know that has not happened. I expected that he would jump at the money, but I didn't anticipate the run of franchising DEs. Now I'm sure he's not signing the franchise tender for precisely the reason we are discussing here: that the Bengals will spend on someone else and pull the tag, enabling him to cash in.

I doubt that will happen, but from his perspective there's nothing to lose. Once the Clements and Thomases go (elsewhere) look for a long-term deal to be hammered out.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

How long does Smith have to sign and when can we retract the tag if he doesnt?

July 15th I believe... but I highly doubt the Bengals retract the tag if it comes to that.

Smith doesn't have to sign at all if he doesn't want to. Also, I'm not sure you can franchise a player and retract. Once you name him, it's official. The deadline was today (Thursday). You might be able to retract BEFORE the deadline. But not now.

In other words, you can't remove a franchise tag for the purpose of giving it to someone else after the deadline passes.

The July 14th date you're referring to is the deadline for a franchise player and the team to agree to a long-term deal. You can't negotiate with a franchised player after that date.

You can't use it on someone else, but you can pull it. At least the Eagles have done it twice in the last 10 years, once with Trotter and once with Simon.

[schweinhart]

Doesn't sound like the Bengals can do much of anything until they free up some money. Be interesting to see if they come to terms with Kelly at the combine.

[membengal]

So, is this the thread where people somehow convince themselves that Thomas ain't all that? Because I am not buying what some of you are selling.

Thomas is the kind of player that could help this team get over the hump in the next few years. The window won't be eternal with this team.

Not that I think the Bengals will be proactive and get the difference maker, just that I wish they would.

[HoosierCat]

So, is this the thread where people somehow convince themselves that Thomas ain't all that? Because I am not buying what some of you are selling.

Thomas is the kind of player that could help this team get over the hump in the next few years. The window won't be eternal with this team.

Not that I think the Bengals will be proactive and get the difference maker, just that I wish they would.

I'd love to have Thomas. Is he perfect? No, but our LB corps ought to be declared a federal disaster area. He would be a huge upgrade, even if it turned out to be for just a couple years. But the Bengals would have to get creative financially, and we both know the likelihood of that.

[Kirkendall]

You can't use it on someone else, but you can pull it. At least the Eagles have done it twice in the last 10 years, once with Trotter and once with Simon.

My question is were they pulled before or after the deadline?

[ShulaSteakhouse]

So, is this the thread where people somehow convince themselves that Thomas ain't all that? Because I am not buying what some of you are selling.

Thomas is the kind of player that could help this team get over the hump in the next few years. The window won't be eternal with this team.

Not that I think the Bengals will be proactive and get the difference maker, just that I wish they would.

I'd love to have Thomas. Is he perfect? No, but our LB corps ought to be declared a federal disaster area. He would be a huge upgrade, even if it turned out to be for just a couple years. But the Bengals would have to get creative financially, and we both know the likelihood of that.

Agree with Mem and HC on this one. Ecspecially the comment about the "window of opportunity" that exists right now - the Bengals' need to get a little out of their comfort zone with the salary cap the next couple of years, and make a real effort to bolster that roster in FA.

I don't think anyone is asking them to be stupid about it, i.e. the Redskins. But the LB unit is is in complete disaray with a lot of ? marks and inexperienced guys with upside.

They will not get to a SB with LJ, Caleb and Simmons again as the starting 3. I think Marvin knows that obviously.

[Vol_Bengal]

How long does Smith have to sign and when can we retract the tag if he doesnt?

July 15th I believe... but I highly doubt the Bengals retract the tag if it comes to that.

Smith doesn't have to sign at all if he doesn't want to. Also, I'm not sure you can franchise a player and retract. Once you name him, it's official. The deadline was today (Thursday). You might be able to retract BEFORE the deadline. But not now.

In other words, you can't remove a franchise tag for the purpose of giving it to someone else after the deadline passes.

The July 14th date you're referring to is the deadline for a franchise player and the team to agree to a long-term deal. You can't negotiate with a franchised player after that date.

You're not quite correct there. The tag is simply a tender / offer (which means another team would have to give the Bengals their next two #1 picks if they offered Smith and the Bengals didn't match it) - until Smith signs it and it becomes a contract it stays just that. As long as it is a tag / offer it can be pulled at any time. Once Smith signs it, and it then is officially a 1 yr contract for 8.6 mil, the Bengals have until July 15th to do one of three things:

1) Re-negotiate the deal so there is less cap hit this year and going forward,

2) Trade him away (which requires another team to have a long-term contract already negotiated), or

3) Let him play at the 1 yr contract and renegotiate longer term into future years or let him walk at the end of it.

If no agreement is reached until after July 15th that agreement can't be signed into a contract until after the season is complete so he still has to play for the 8.6 million.

[HoosierCat]

You can't use it on someone else, but you can pull it. At least the Eagles have done it twice in the last 10 years, once with Trotter and once with Simon.

My question is were they pulled before or after the deadline?

As far as I know, the July deadline has no bearing on whether teams can pull the tag or not. It's just that afterwards, both he and the team are stuck with the the 1-year franchise offer. (They can still negotiate a new deal, but can't sign it until the next year.)

The key factor is whether the franchised player signs the franchise offer. Once they do, it's guaranteed. Before July 15, they can replace it with a long term deal to lower the cap hit; after that, as mentioned, they are stuck for a while.

If there's a total impasse, Justin could refuse to sign the franchise offer, and the Bengals could keep the tag on, resulting in a holdout. The deadline for a tagged player to sign with a new team is something like week 10 of the regular season, so in the event of a holdout the Bengals could still try to deal Justin to someone for some time. I don't expect that, however.

[Kirkendall]

You're not quite correct there. The tag is simply a tender / offer (which means another team would have to give the Bengals their next two #1 picks if they offered Smith and the Bengals didn't match it)

Not if Smith is an Exclusive Franchise -- offered max amount. No team can compete for him...

If Smith were non-exclusive franchise, then you're correct sir. Non-exclusive franchise players have until the 10th week into the season to sign their one-year deals.