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The NFL Salary Cap has yet to be set for 2016 (though per one report today, it could climb to as high as $155 million), so we do not yet know the figures for franchise and transition tags per position. However, there are a few projections out there that can give you an idea of what kind of money it will cost a team to place a franchise tag on a star player.
This likely won't affect the Seahawks -- they're very unlikely to tag Russell Okung or Jeremy Lane -- and in fact, the only guy that I could see it happening with is punter Jon Ryan, who'd cost upwards of $4.5-$5.0 million. This seems really unlikely too.
But for reference, here you go:
Projection based on $153 million cap:
Per Kevin Patra of NFL.com, taking the estimated cap number of $153 million in 2016, this is an approximation of what the numbers for each position would be:
Quarterback: $19.6 million ($17.5 million)
Defensive end: $15.4 million ($12.5 million)
Wide Receiver: $14.4 million ($12.0 million)
Linebacker: $14.0 million ($11.7 million)
Cornerback: $13.7 million ($11.7 million)
Offensive line: $13.5 million ($11.7 million)
Defensive tackle: $13.4 million ($10.7 million)
Running back: $11.5 million ($9.5 million)
Safety: $10.6 million ($9.0 million)
Tight End: $9.0 million ($7.6 million)
Kicker/Punter: $4.5 million ($4.0 million)
However, obviously, with the report today that it could climb to "at least" $155 million, perhaps we should estimate a little bit higher.
Projection based on a $154 million cap
Per Joel Corry of CBSSports, this is a projection of what the franchise tag numbers would look like with a $154 million cap. He also added some really handy percentage-changes for each position as well.
| PROJECTED FRANCHISE TAG NUMBERS, 2016 | ||||
| POSITION | CURRENT | SALARY CAP PERCENTAGE | PROJECTED | CHANGE |
| Cornerback | $13,075,000 | 8.985% | $13,838,000 | 5.83% |
| Defensive End | $14,813,000 | 10.061% | $15,494,000 | 4.6% |
| Defensive Tackle | $11,193,000 | 8.68% | $13,368,000 | 19.43% |
| Linebacker | $13,195,000 | 9.176% | $14,131,000 | 7.09% |
| Offensive Line | $12,943,000 | 8.882% | $13,678,000 | 5.68% |
| Punter/Kicker | $4,126,000 | 2.944% | $4,534,000 | 9.89% |
| Quarterback | $18,544,000 | 12.823% | $19,748,000 | 6.49% |
| Running Back | $10,951,000 | 7.708% | $11,871,000 | 8.4% |
| Safety | $9,618,000 | 6.959% | $10,717,000 | 11.43% |
| Tight End | $8,347,000 | 5.879% | $9,053,000 | 8.46% |
| Wide Receiver | $12,823,000 | 9.434% | $14,527,000 | 13.29% |
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So, as you can see, franchise tags are extremely expensive, and there's a reason they should only be reserved for foundational, "franchise" players. The Seahawks won't use theirs this year (almost surely), but it's still worth keeping an eye on the numbers for once free agency hits.