Quote:
Originally Posted by tzach
the cba doesn't seem to allow a trade for more than 2 first-round picks for a player in lamar's situation. that said, the interpretation of the cba has been stretched in other occasions, so who knows. for instance, the cba doesn't say anything about BAL revoking the tag, signing lamar to a dummy contract, and trading him for more than 2 firsts, since then he would not be on the tag anymore. but i'd expect there would be litigation in that case, since the spirit of the rule has been circumvented.
the ravens are certainly aware of the cba limitation, so they are either happy to move on for 2 firsts, or they have signaled they would match any offer sheet that comes in.
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Once Jackson signs a new contract, I don't think there are restrictions on trading him. A team might find value in offering more than two first-round picks to offset some initial cap room, enabling them to make a larger offer - one that Jackson would presumably sign. Baltimore then would be trading cap room and some money for that additional compensation.
In addition, the premium might be seen as inducement for Baltimore not to match the offer under the franchise process. So they negotiate terms with Jackson, he says, "yes, I would sign that," and then the team negotiates with Baltimore so that they don't simply say, "ah, thanks for doing that for us, but he's worth more than two firsts so we'll keep him."
There's a reason no player a team wanted to keep has ever been signed away under the non-exclusive franchise tag. It was essentially designed to work that way. Of the three designations, the non-exclusive franchise tag is almost always the one used.
Of course, Jackson doesn't have to cooperate. Then Baltimore can't trade him at all - it's either take the two firsts or match.