INDIANAPOLIS - The Vikings decision to place their franchise tag on linebacker Chad Greenway this week caused some questions about whether consideration was given to putting that designation on receiver Sidney Rice.
Vikings vice president of player personnel Rick Spielman declined to provide much insight into the matter Thursday as he addressed a group of reporters at the NFL scouting combine.
"I'm not going to go into what our internal discussions were," he said. "We made a decision that Chad was our franchise [player], and hopefully we'll be able to get Sidney under contract this year."
Greenway has yet to sign the franchise tender, but is expected to in the coming days.
The Vikings might not be convinced Rice will become an unrestricted free agent when that period starts. Under the last year of the collective bargaining agreement, which will expire March 3, a player didn't become unrestricted until he had six years of service. Rice just completed his fourth season, the number of years needed to become unrestricted before 2010.
ESPN reported Thursday that teams are prepared to use restricted free-agent tenders, even if they don't know if those tags will be binding once a new labor deal is in place. "We will finalize all our tags on potential restricted free agents when we get back [from the combine]," Spielman said. "I'm not going to tell you what we're going to tag or who we're going to tag."
Placing a tender on a restricted free agent means the player can still get offers from teams but his current club has the ability to match or receive compensation in the form of draft picks.
Using a tender that might not exist on Rice could be viewed as antagonistic, but Spielman points out that the Vikings can only operate under the rules that are currently in place. NFL officials and the NFL Players Association have been engaged in talks but an agreement does not appear close, meaning a work stoppage could be on the horizon.
