As the Bears and quarterback Caleb Williams haggle over remaining language in his rookie deal, there’s one clause that definitely won’t be added.
Per multiple sources, Williams asked the Bears to agree not to use the franchise tag upon expiration of his rookie contract. The Bears declined.
Although multiple veteran players have secured such a commitment (e.g., Dak Prescott), no rookie has finagled a promise that they won’t be tagged. Williams arguably had the leverage to accomplish it.
The best time to use that leverage would have been before the draft. Prior to the adoption of the rookie wage scale in 2011, teams with the first overall pick would often negotiate with multiple players before the draft, hoping to entice one of them to agree to terms. Nowadays, with top prospects bringing bank accounts stuffed with NIL cash to the NFL, someone like Williams could say, for example, drop the franchise tag or I won’t play for you. And, if you draft me, I’ll sit out the entire season and re-enter the draft next year.
It’s a delicate P.R. move, given that fans align with the laundry and the media does the players few favors when it comes to assigning black hats. Williams didn’t try it. Ultimately, he didn’t get one of the terms he wanted.
If he had, it would have created a precedent on which plenty of future first-round picks could have capitalized.
And that’s good news for the NFL. If a no-tag clause ever became commonplace in first-round contracts, teams would have them for five years at the most, with no way to keep the market from determining their value as of year six.