Monday, February 18, 2013
Will Spencer be tagged?
By Tim Kavanagh
Unfortunately for the Dallas Cowboys, both they and the Washington Redskins were penalized for spending over a non-existent salary cap during the uncapped season prior to the end of the previous CBA. If that sounds illogical to you, it has for a lot of other observers as well, but the fact remains that the Cowboys and Redskins have been stripped of some cap room last offseason and again this offseason. As a result, they have to be much tighter with their spending.
One of the players this affects for Dallas is OLB Anthony Spencer, who'll be switching to DE in the club's new 4-3, provided that he's back with them for 2013. Spencer was the team's franchise taggee for 2012, so a second-straight tag would require them paying 120 percent of the prior figure. That's a big pill to swallow for any team, but especially for Dallas, given their cap issues as explained above. Nevertheless, there is a small chance that he is tagged, as ESPN NFC East blogger Dan Graziano illuminates in a blog post Monday:
Dan Graziano
NFC East tag candidates"Since they made him their franchise player last year, the Cowboys would have to pay Spencer more than $12 million if they did that again this year. Considering their current issues with the salary cap, that is impossible. The only way Spencer gets tagged is if, come March 4, he and the team have made enough meaningful progress on a long-term deal that the team is certain it will get done and they tag him to keep him off the market while they dot I's and cross T's. All of that seems extremely unlikely."
