New York Jets TE Dustin Keller not keen to be bounded by franchise tag for 2012 season – NFL News
New York Jets tight end Dustin Keller has come out in front of media and has put his notion on notice that he does not want himself to be confined by the franchise tag if the team decides to keep him for one more year.
In an interview with the New York Daily News, Keller made it absolutely clear that he is not interested in playing the 2013 season under the franchise tag and wants to get a long-term commitment by any of the teams including the Jets. Keller said:
“I don’t want to be franchised. You want to make sure that you’re going somewhere and you’re signing something that was your decision. You don’t want to be told that you’re doing something for whatever price. You want to make that decision for yourself.”
Keller, the five-year veteran, is going through his final year of the rookie career. He is about to get $5.962 million in the franchise tender.
The amount is more than what Keller is likely to get in the free agency as the player is currently out with an ankle injury and has played just seven games in the 2012 season.
The amount a tight end gets under franchise tag is fixed under the collective bargaining agreement and will likely remain the same unless renegotiated.
In Keller’s point of view, the tag represents lack of proper decision making on part of a team’s administration rather than the will of the player. Keller carried on and said:
“You don’t want somebody else making it for you. I would love to come back here, but when I came here, I signed a five-year deal and this is the fifth year on it. You want to be able to make that decision for yourself. . . That’d be illegal in another job.”
The tight end put up his best performances in the 2011 season in which he received 65 passes for a massive 815 yards and also scored five touchdowns.
Keller was drafted by Jets as the 30th overall pick in the 2008 draft.
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