Yesterday Lucas Myers somewhat surprisingly announced that he "will not be rejoining the Fog" this offseason in free agency. As a result a couple hours later, Fog management announced they had placed the franchise tag on him.
An unhappy Myers is now under the franchise tag's salary rule of player average pay + 50%, which unfortunately for him is only $5.20 because nobody has signed new deals yet under the new salary cap of $65. In short, the JAL 14 all-star is now under a contract that is well below his value.
Nothing has been officially stated yet, but it's rumored that the Fog only franchise tagged Lucas so that they could turn around and trade him to at least get something in return, as they know now he would have otherwise left them freely. Perhaps this is a lesson to any other free agents out there planning to leave: that they should probably keep their mouths shut and say all the right things until the 28th.
The bad news for Myers also is that unless he finds a way to get cut he will be paid only $5.20 no matter what because in the new CBA if a team cuts a player they can't re-sign them until the following offseason. The good news at least, is that all money in a tagged contract is guaranteed, so Myers will at least touch it one way or another.
The Fog are now not allowed to use the franchise tag for the rest of the duration of this CBA (3 seasons).
We'll all have to keep an eye on how this continues to unfold, as the story likely does not end here between the parties.
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