Although it could end up being meaningless, the Vikings and other NFL teams can begin applying the franchise and/or transition tag on players for a 14-day period starting Thursday. One popular question has been whether the Vikings would elect to use one of those tags on a free agent and thus bind them to the team for the 2011 season, if there is one. The two most popular names are linebacker Chad Greenway and wide receiver Sidney Rice. First let's review what these tags mean: The franchise tag allows each team to prevent one of its players from becoming an unrestricted free agent by offering that player a one-year contract that is worth 120 percent of his salary from the previous season or the average of the five highest-paid players at his position. The transition tag allows each team to offer one of its free agents a one-year deal for an amount no less than the average of the top 10 salaries of 2010 at the player's position, or a 20 percent increase in salary, whichever is greater. Applying the transition tag gives the team a right to match any offer the player receives within seven days. A refusal to match an offer sheet means the team losing that player gets no compensation. While the NFL has given the green light for teams to use the tags, there hasn't been any indication the Vikings plan on designating Greenway, Rice or any of their other potential free agents as a franchise or transition player. For linebackers this past season, the average of the top five salaries was $9.68 million. The figure was $9.521 million for wide receivers. As talks about a new collective bargaining agreement take place in Washington, D.C., this week, and with the current CBA set to expire at 11 p.m. Central on March 3, it's no surprise the NFL Players Association contends that the franchise and transition tags are irrelevant. In this case, common sense has to go to the NFLPA. Sure a team can use one of these tags starting on Thursday, but certainly these designations are going to be a part of the labor talks and could change, or even go away, under the terms of a new agreement. If there isn't a new agreement by the deadline, there will be no free agency and thus being a franchise or transition player will have no meaning because the NFL won't be doing business. As for the Vikings, it makes little sense for them to use one of these tags because they have made it clear since last spring that they weren't going to give any extensions until they knew the new ground rules when it came to the NFL's labor situation. Why bother slapping a potentially meaningless tag on Greenway or Rice and sparking any hope in those players that they are open for contract business? Plus, if I'm Adrian Peterson, whose deal voids after the 2011 season, the second I see the Vikings make any type of contract move with a player, I'm at the doorstep looking to talk about my situation. The guess here is the Vikings will avoid any such headaches and simply continue to monitor how the labor talks unfold.