January 29th, 2010 
Mark Picucci 
Posted in From Mike Garafolo:
We’ve gotten a look at the official amounts for a franchise or transition tag at each position for this upcoming season. Here’s a look at the amounts:
CORNERBACK: $9.566 million (franchise), $8.056 million (transition)
DEFENSIVE END: $12.398m, $10.193m
DEFENSIVE TACKLE: $7.003m, $6.353m
LINEBACKER: $9.680m, $8.373m
OFFENSIVE LINE: $10.731m, $9.142m
PUNTER/KICKER: $2.814m, $2.629m
QUARTERBACK: $16.405m, $14.546m
RUNNING BACK: $8.156m, $7.151m
SAFETY: $6.455m, $6.011m
TIGHT END: $5.908m, $5.248m
WIDE RECEIVER: $9.521m, $8.651m
The franchise tag is an average of the top five salaries at a position for the 2009 season. (Or, in the case of “exclusive” franchise tags, the average of the top five salaries as of a TBD date this coming April.) The transition tag is an average of the top 10.
The Giants aren’t expected to use either tag after using the franchise tag on Brandon Jacobs for only a couple of days last year before signing him to a long-term deal. Plus, teams likely won’t have to use the tag on fourth-year players who are approaching free agency. Those players, who would have been unrestricted free agents normally, will be restricted free agents if the league and the union do not reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement.
