Analysis: Franchise tags help to clear NFL free-agency picture

The 2015 free-agent picture is coming into focus after five teams opted on Monday to use their franchise tags to keep star players under contract.

Demaryius Thomas, Peyton Manning's most productive wide receiver, is likely staying in Denver, and the Dallas Cowboys used their franchise tag to keep receiver Dez Bryant.

Two of the best young pass rushers, Kansas City's Justin Houston, who had 22 sacks last season, and the New York Giants' Jason Pierre-Paul, with 42 sacks over the past five seasons, also got tagged and won't hit the open market.

The fifth franchise tag went to New England Patriots' kicker Stephen Gostkowski.

The Miami Dolphins opted to use the transition tag – not the franchise tag – on tight end Charles Clay. The transition tag comes with a lesser tender ($7 million, compared to $8.37 with the franchise tag).

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Franchise-tag decisions on Thomas, Bryant, Houston and Pierre-Paul, were likely easy calls p– moves to keep premier players at premium positions.

Thomas and Bryant are among a small group of the NFL's elite receivers – and their careers will continue to be linked after they were selected with consecutive picks (Thomas at No. 22, Bryant at No. 23) in the 2010 draft; while Houston and Pierre-Paul are cornerstone defensive players.

But here are some takeaways from the more interesting franchise-tag decisions – the ones that didn't happen:

• While the $26.9 million salary that would have come with the franchise tag for Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh made it unlikely the team would tag him, Monday's announcement that Suh would become a free agent still was the biggest move of the day. The Lions can try to negotiate with Suh and his agent, Jimmy Sexton, until the market officially opens and players can sign on March 10, but this decision will kick off a major bidding war for Suh, who can expect to collect a bigger free agent deal than Mario Williams got three years ago in Buffalo, and more than Houston's J.J. Watt got in his massive, $100-million extension last year.

• Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and Green Bay receiver Randall Cobb will become the best free agents at their position and should expect to find a lucrative and competitive market (especially with Thomas and Bryant not in it). Maclin played last year on a one-year, $5.5-million deal signed while he was recovering from the torn anterior cruciate ligament he suffered in 2013. Cobb, who also has value as a returner on special teams, might command more money than the Packers are willing to pay, given the four-year, $39.5 million deal Green Bay gave receiver Jordy Nelson last year.

• The decisions by Denver and Dallas to tag Thomas and Bryant, respectively, has major ramifications for two other Pro Bowl players – Broncos tight end Julius Thomas, and Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray. Both teams headed into this offseason with an ideal scenario of tagging one player and re-signing the other, but absent new deals already for Demaryius Thomas and Bryant, both teams had to face the possibility of losing Julius Thomas and Murray, who should be the most sought-after free agents at their positions when the market opens.

• The Patriots, who last year declined to use their tag on cornerback Aqib Talib, who then signed with the Broncos after the start of free agency, are gambling again by not tagging free safety Devin McCourty, who will be the best safety on the market – by far. The Patriots' declining to tag McCourty could be a sign of confidence that they'll lock him up by March 10 – or that they aren't willing to outbid teams that might overpay McCourty because of a weak class of safeties in the draft.

• The Miami Dolphins chose to use the transition tag – not the franchise tag – on Clay, and the team will get the chance to match an offer should Clay try to sign with another team. But should Clay get a monster offer elsewhere and leave, the Dolphins would get no compensation, which is the risk the Dolphins take by assigning the transition tag rather than the franchise tag. Last year, the Cleveland Browns used the transition tag on center Alex Mack, and wound up matching a five-year, $42 million offer from the Jacksonville Jaguars.

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Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @ByLindsayHJones