Aubrayo Franklin officially franchise tagged
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 | Niner Cap Hell
ProFootballTalk reports that the 49ers have officially applied a non-exclusive franchise tag on nose tackle
Aubrayo Franklin, which will pay him a flat $7 million on the season, assuming that he is not signed away or traded.
If a team signs Franklin to an offer sheet, the 49ers would have right of first refusal to match the contract offer. If they choose not to match the offer, the team that signs Franklin would hand over two first round picks in return. Being that it is highly unlikely that any team would do so, if the interested team offers something substantial (i.e. probably at least a mid-1st round pick), the 49ers could potentially trade away his rights.