After a disastrous 2011 season, the Vikings decided to put Rick Spielman in sole charge as GM instead of the three-headed monster they used in previous seasons. So far, Spielman isn’t wasting any time when it comes to some of the major personnel decisions for the team.
↵According to 1500 ESPN’s Tom Pelissero, Spielman said that the Vikings will not use the franchise tag for the upcoming season.
↵For the uninitiated, the franchise tag allows every NFL team to designate one player due to be an unrestricted free agent to a one-year contract. That contract’s salary is the average of the top paid player at their respective position over the past five years. Each team can franchise only one player per year and teams can’t use the franchise tag on a player more than once.
↵Last year, 13 NFL teams used the franchise tag. The Vikings were one of those teams, using the option on linebacker Chad Greenway.
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