On Friday, the Arizona Cardinals placed the franchise tag on defensive end Calais Campbell, according to Darren Urban of the team's official website.
"We've made no secret of the high regard in which we hold Calais," general manager Rod Graves said. "To be clear, reaching a long-term deal that will keep Calais with the Cardinals for years to come remains our primary objective. This move today allows us the opportunity to continue working with Calais and his agent toward that goal and that's exactly what we will do."
Technically the Cards used the "non-exclusive" tag on Campbell, which means another team could come along and make a contract offer to the free agent and the Cardinals would receive two first-round draft picks if they didn't match the offer. However, the two sides have been discussing a long-term deal for weeks and all signs are pointing to that as a logical conclusion. If he sticks under the tag, he should make about $10 million next season. The deadline for signing extensions in July 16.
