Franchise Who? Michael Koenen

NFL.com's Adam Schefter is reporting that the Falcons will use their franchise tag, on a punter! Thats right, a punter. Michael Koenan, an undrafted free agent from Western Washington is expected to be slapped with the franchise tag. That has suprised me and many others since this almost never happens.

Michael Koenen is a punter, but also handles kickoffs. He franchise tag will give him 2.48 million dollars next season. This transaction is very rare, as it almost has nevered happened. The only other time it occured was when the Carolina Panthers franchised Todd Sauerbrun in 2003. I have mixed feelings about the franchise tag. He is a valued special teams player who can put teams deep into their territory, but franchising him? I think they could have signed him a lot less money around the 1.5 million range.