The Packer Pundit

Packers tab Williams as franchise player
Team also waives Franks
By TOM SILVERSTEIN / journalsentinel.com
The Green Bay Packers just made official the news that Corey Williams had been slapped with the franchise tag and they also announced the release of tight end Bubba Franks. The Franks move isn't totally surprising given his drop-off in play and recent injury problems, but there was no reason financially that they had to make the move. Franks' salary cap number jumped from $2.4 million last year to $4.5 million this year, but the Packers have around $18 million in salary cap money after the move to franchise Williams. Franks is also due a $500,000 roster bonus, which the Packers obviously didn't want to pay. His $3 million base salary would not have come due until the season began.

Franks, a first-round draft choice in 2000, played eight seasons in Green Bay and appeared in 114 games and made 94 starts. He made the Pro Bowl from 2001-'03 and totaled 256 catches and 2,300 career receiving yards. His 32 touchdown receptions are tied for 10th on the franchise's all-time list. "We thank Bubba for everything he has given to our franchise," general manager Ted Thompson said in a release. "He was a productive player on the field, a good teammate in the locker room and a fine representative of the Packers in the Green Bay community."

As for Williams, the deadline for using franchise and transition designations is Thursday, but the Packers went ahead and filed the appropriate paperwork with the NFL Wednesday and the move showed up on the league's personnel wire late this afternoon, according to a league source.
The move all but takes Williams off the market come the start of free agency Feb. 29 and allows the Packers more time to try to work out a long-term deal with their starting tackle. As a franchise player, Williams is free to negotiate with other teams in the NFL, but if a team signs him to a deal and the Packers don't match the offer, the team must give up two first-round draft picks for Williams. In exchange for having his free agency rights diminished, Williams receives a minimum one-year deal of $6.363 million, which is the average of the salary (in salary cap dollars) of the top five players at his position. Williams has the option of signing the deal right away, thereby guaranteeing him the money regardless of whether the Packers cut him or to not sign it and sit out mini-camps and training camp waiting for a long-term deal.