Franchise tag / Alexander

Here's an exerpt from an article from seahawks.com:

Looming over everything else is the Alexander situation. If he doesn't sign the franchise tag, they can't negotiate a new deal. If he doesn't sign it, they lose the tag for a year. If they were to sign him to a five-year deal in lieu of the tag, they would lose the franchise tag for five years.

"That's what people don't understand," Reinfeldt said. "He has to sign the tender before we can do anything, before he can do anything. The franchise tag is too important for the (financial health of the) team to lose. And even if he signs the tag, there has to be a cooling off period before we can do a long-term deal, otherwise the union will file a grievance and that can get ugly."

So in Alexander's case, Reinfeldt's hands are tied until he signs the tender.

Reinfelt is the executive vice president of administration for the Seahawks.

In other words, they could negotiate a long term deal with Alexander, but it would be foolish. To sign a deal with him under these conditions would cause the team to lose their ability to place the franchise tag on other players for five years. The franchise tag is a huge financial tool, and the front office would be foolish to throw it away.

Match this with Alexander's absolute comments from earlier this week, and we see a huge disconnect. Mo Maurice's chances of starting are looking better and better.

Match this with the uncertainty at the second receiver position and the new cast of characters at linebacker, and this season could easily go either way. It could be a disaster. It could also be their best year yet.

From a Fantasy perspective, I won't touch Alexander on draft day, and I'll keep an eye out for Mo in the later rounds.