Franchise tags are typically reserved for players teams don’t want to lose in free agency. It’s basically a last ditch option that allows teams to retain players they absolutely have to keep.
With the tag window now open, the Patriots are weighing their tag possibilities. But there really isn’t much weighing to do. It’s not hard to find someone who falls into the above category.
They have at least one pending free agent they absolutely, positively must keep.
It’s not Kyle Dugger, Josh Uche, Hunter Henry, or Kendrick Bourne.
It’s Michael Onwenu.
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In my mind, the 26-year-old offensive tackle falls into the keep him at all costs territory.
Both he and Trent Brown are free agents. If neither returns, there’s no one left on the roster who is a starting-caliber tackle. Or even close to being that.
The reason to keep Onwenu over Brown is he’s younger, and he’s not as prone to as many lulls in effort as the Patriots have seen with Brown.
Onwenu has played both right guard and right tackle, and, according to Pro Football Focus, has ranked among the highest-graded players at his position.
By the end of last season, Onwenu and rookie right guard Sidy Sow looked like a competent tandem on the right side of the Pats’ O-line.
The fixed cost for one year if the Patriots were to tag Onwenu?
About $21.2 million, according to Over The Cap’s projections.
Currently, linebacker Matt Judon has the highest cap hit on the team at $14.6 million.
That figure is seven million less than Onwenu’s expected cap hit based on the $21.2 million projection. It’s also roughly $2 million less than the most Tom Brady earned with the Patriots in a single season.
Whether it’s Jerod Mayo, or Eliot Wolf, or both making the decisions, they need to make it work with Onwenu. The Patriots have the cap space, and as Mayo said during an interview on WEEI, “we’re ready to burn some cash.”
And burn they should.
The Patriots are in start-over mode. They’re rebuilding, and doing so behind a quarterback likely taken in this year’s draft.
Onwenu and Brown are considered two of the best tackles on the free agent market. So the spending bar on tackles across the league revolves around them.
If the Patriots intent is to play the rookie quarterback right out of the gate, pass protection is paramount.
Can the Pats in good conscience put a kid behind a line that can’t protect him at either flank? Because that’s how it was for a good part of the season last year with Brown hurt, and a revolving door of bad right tackles before Onwenu slid over from guard.
ESPN analyst and former Patriots offensive lineman Damien Woody agrees the team needs to do something given Onwenu stands to make a fortune if he gets to free agency.
“He might be the top offensive line free agent this year,” Woody said. “He’s going to be very coveted in free agency.”
What might “very coveted” mean in terms of money if Onwenu hits the open market?
Last year, the top earner at the tackle position was Houston’s Laremy Tunsil at $25 million per season.
He was followed by San Francisco’s Trent Williams ($23.01 million), Green Bay’s David Bakhtiari ($23 million), Atlanta’s Chris Lindstrom ($20.5 million) and Philadelphia’s Lane Johnson ($20.2 million).
A tackle-needy team could very well put Onwenu in that stratosphere, or close to it. If the Patriots don’t want to get into a bidding war, the tag is their best option.
At the very least, Onwenu will be here another year. Beyond that, the two sides can negotiate from there with hopes of reaching a longer term contract. The tag buys time, and keeps other teams out of the picture.
“Tackles are expensive,” Woody said. “Offensive tackles, especially good ones, are rare commodities, so that price tag is going to be high.
“I would (tag him),” the two-time Super Bowl winner went on. “There’s going to be a lot of people that’s going to be in on him. So if I’m the Patriots, you have a lot of holes. You gotta get a quarterback, you gotta get wide receivers, then to possibly lose both starting tackles? That’s absurd. You have to find a way to retain talent, especially young talent.”
Brown is one of the better tackles in the game when he’s engaged, but it still behooves the Patriots to keep Onwenu over the 30-year-old tackle who was part of the Patriots last championship team.
“All day every day,” Woody agreed.
Most of the signs point to the Patriots moving on from Brown. If they keep Onwenu by tagging him, or agreeing to an extension, they can supplement the position by drafting a tackle in the draft, something they should have done last year. That failure was part of the problem with the offensive line. They can’t make the same mistake again.
Said Woody: “If you need offensive line help, this is a very good draft, especially if you need tackle.”
Draft experts concur with that assessment.
The tag window runs two weeks. If the Patriots want to start some positive momentum on the offensive side, they either tag Onwenu, or re-sign him.
One way or the other, the Patriots, and their checkbook, should be open for business.
