New England Patriots Make Franchise Tag Decision On Gostkowski

The New England Patriots won Super Bowl LIII, and now they are doing some arrangements to get close to the next championship. Most teams rest and relax during the offseason, but the Patriots are making changes to the roster and a few other moves to get everything in order. New England made a decision on Stephen Gostkowski and a few other players.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that the Patriots will not tag Gostkowski prior to Tuesday’s deadline.

There were some rumors suggesting that the Patriots would tag the Pro Bowl kicker, but it seems like they have changed their mind. Gostkowski is the last Patriots player to be tagged as the team did that i 2015. He had a four-year contract worth $17.2 million. If New England decided to tag him, Gostkowski would have earned $5 million in 2019.

The team is not expected to tag the player, but Rapoport relays that the Patriots sure want to bring him back. The kicker netted 27 of his 32 field goal attempts and was 49 of 50 on extra points in the regular season.

Is it Gostkowski or Flowers?

It is interesting to note that the Patriots have not ruled out using the franchise tag. In other words, the Patriots still consider tagging defensive end Trey Flowers or Trent Brown.

If they tag Flowers, they will have to give away $17 million in 2019. Brown would get $14 million.

Flowers is the top pass rusher on the market, and he will probably get a nice contract if he becomes free agent. He started all 15 games he played for the Patriots in 2018 and totaled 57 tackles and 7.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. In the playoffs, Flowers has two more sacks and six quarterback hits. However, tagging Brown still makes sense for the team. Let’s see what happens next.