49ers, Raiders franchise tag safties Goldson, Branch: good choice

By Joey McMurry

Both Bay Area team's elected to use their franchise tag on a safety.

DaShon Goldson will be coming back to the 49ers and Tyvon Branch will be dawning the silver and black for at least another year.

Both safties will receive about $6.2M per the franchise tag value. That number is actually a bit lower this year thanks to the new collective-bargaining agreement that now averages the top 5 salaries at each position to determine the value of each position's franchise tag. This gives another reason for players to dislike the franchise tag, but that's another story.

Goldson easily had his best year in the NFL last year amassing 67 total tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 6 interceptions while making the Pro Bowl.
He isn't the greatest in pass defense, but he gets the job done. His role is the be the enforcer, and with the resigning of Ahmad Brooks the 49ers demonstrated that they plan to build from their front seven back and continue to dominate defensively by stopping the run. Goldson is one of the best safeties in the league at run defense, so it makes sense for the 49ers to bring him back at least for next season. I expect the 49ers to try to work out a long-term deal with Goldson, but right not it's not a huge priority.

Franchising Goldson does mean, however, that the likelihood of cornerback Carlos Rogers returning to San Francisco decreases dramatically. Rogers had a career year last year and I think most 49ers fans would like to have him back. That being said, Goldson is still the right choice for the 49ers' franchise tag.

Rogers would be making over $10M were the 49ers to franchise him, and quite frankly I'm not sure he deserves that just yet. Yes, he had a great year, but before coming to the 49ers he was not elite by any means. He got burned on the Redskins far more than he did on the 49ers and his interception numbers were nothing close to the 6 he put up last year. Plus, the 49ers are deeper at cornerback than they are at safety. Reggie Willis would be Goldson's replacement in the secondary, whereas now Tarell Brown and the emerging Chris Culliver figure to start at corner. I'd rather have Goldson playing with Brown and Culliver than Willis playing with Rogers and Brown because the former is simply a better investment. The 49ers are saving about $4M by allowing Rogers to test the free agent market and with Culliver getting better and better, it's the right choice to be happy with Brown and Culliver despite possibly losing Rogers, especially since Goldson is four years younger than Rogers.

For the Raiders, Dennis Allen has already made his mark. The defensive minded coach didn't let up at all by franchising the 25 year-old safety Tyvon Branch. The only other likely choice is running back Michael Bush, who received significant playing time when Darren McFadden went down (again). Again, the choice to franchise the safety is simply a better investment. The Raiders should not use a franchise tag on a backup running back, especially when they are already over $20M over the cap (I'll get to that later).

Branch, however, could absolutely thrive under Dennis Allen. The Saints' secondary was monstrous when he was in New Orleans, so Tyvon Branch will probably be even better next season. He's been good the last three seasons, too. He has amassed over 100 tackles in each of his three seasons as a starter and provided good pass coverage. Allen could easily turn him into more of a ball hawk and have him picking off more than one interception per season. Also, I expect Branch to be more of the 4 sack guy he was in 2010 rather than the 1 sack guy he was last season. Becasue Allen is a defensive coach and the Raiders will be needing defense, Branch is definitely the right choice.

Look for him to live up to the $6.2M he'll receive and get signed to a long-term deal. He's only 25, and the franchise tag gives the organization a little longer to lock him up long term.

Good moves by both Bay Area teams this time around. The two safeties are good investments and are the best choices for the illustrious hated infamous franchise tag.