Despite Franchise Tag, Thuney May Be On The Move
The New England Patriots designated offensive guard Joe Thuney with its franchise tag last month, effectively taking the former NC State star off the NFL's free agent market.
But that hasn't ended speculation Thuney will soon be on the move to another team.
There is growing buzz in the Boston media that the Patriots are looking to trade Thuney as a means of acquiring multiple picks in the upcoming draft and clearing out space under the NFL's salary cap.
According to Miguel Benzan, a self-proclaimed Patriots salary cap guru, trading Thuney for picks would "create over $6 million in cap space ... enough space to operate the rest of the year."
The franchise designation is a device teams are able to use to protect a player scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. The tag binds the player to the team for one year if certain conditions are met.
Tagging Thuney buys the Patriots time to decide what to do with the former third-round draft pick, who is coming off the best season of his five-year pro career. Other than trading him, the team's other options including re-signing him to a long-term deal and hanging onto him for the coming season to provide protection for whoever ends up being Tom Brady's replacement at quarterback.
Thuney has earned two Super Bowl rings with the Patriots and his three Super Bowl appearances is second only to Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Jim Ritcher among Wolfpack alumni.
