A Deeper Look at ESPN's 'Top 5' Things the Giants Need to Do. Part 2: Using the Franchise Tag on Leonard Williams

ESPN's Bill Barnwell recently released his five-step plan for each NFL team and how they can improve this off-season. Here's step two of his plan for the Giants--and why it doesn't make sense.

When it comes to defensive lineman Leonard Williams, the Giants painted themselves into a corner.

It began with them reportedly being the only team to have enough of an interest in the No. 6 overall pick of the 2015 draft, and it ended with them sending the Jets a third-round draft pick this year and a conditional fifth-rounder in 2021 which turns into a fourth-rounder if they sign Williams long term.

While Williams wasn't horrible in his eight-game audition with the Giants--the value that he brings is more along the lines of his hidden production, which, unfortunately, might not justify premium dollars--the Giants are now in a spot to where they have to re-sign Williams lest they look foolish for giving up draft capital for a player that they could have evaluated by watching tape.

But with no deal believed to be on the horizon, ESPN's Bill Barnwell, in his five-step off-season plan for the Giants, believes they will have to apply the franchise tag to keep Williams from testing the market.

Barnwell notes, "They clearly think Williams is a franchise defensive lineman, though, and if you work with that assumption, the best way for them to keep him around before negotiating a long-term deal is to use the franchise tag."

There are a couple of reasons why I don't agree with Barnwell here.

My argument is that the Giants should use the transition tag on Williams, which would cost them around $12 million, mainly because Williams' production does not belong in the $15 million per year range, as would be the case with the franchise tag.

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Besides protecting their investment and buying time--the transition tag would allow the Giants to match any offer Williams receives from another club within a certain period--the price is probably more in line with Williams' market value.

The drawback though is if they don't match the deal they wouldn't be in line for a compensatory pick (though with the current CBA set to end there technically isn't a compensatory pick assurance in place for 2021 anyway).

But there's another caveat that needs to be mentioned, and that is which tag--the lower cost defensive tackle tag or the much higher priced defensive end tag--is applicable.

It would cost the Giants approximately $16.338 million to apply the defensive end transition tag on Williams versus an estimated (and far more reasonable) $12.321 million.

In today's NFL, where players are often asked to fill multiple roles, it's not uncommon for them to argue that they get the higher tag amount.

If we use the detailed snap counts as provided by Pro Football Focus to gauge where Williams was lined up for the majority of his snaps last year with the Giants, there should be no question that the defensive tackle tag is the correct value to assess.

Barnwell's opinion that Wiliams needs to be tagged if no deal is reached is spot on. But the franchise tag for a defensive tackle figures to be too rich of a price because if teams weren't breaking down the Jets' door to acquire Williams via trade, it's unlikely that they're going to throw upwards of $15 million per year at him to sign with them.

Is Leonard Williams worth the franchise tag? Listen to Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap, who addresses this and other topics about the salary cap.