No franchise tag for Texans free agent wide receiver Will Fuller

A former first-round draft choose from Notre Dame, Fuller would have required a one-year tender of $15.8 million to make him the Texans’ franchise participant. The Texans did not have sufficient salary-cap area to afford Fuller along with executing a number of different transactions this offseason.

Though Fuller is suspended for the primary sport of subsequent season after serving the primary 5 video games of a six-game suspension final 12 months for a violation of the NFL’s  performance-enhancing drug coverage, he’s nonetheless anticipated to do nicely as a free agent.

Relying on the scale of Fuller’s contract with a brand new workforce, he may internet them a third-round compensatory draft choose in 2022.

The Texans will lean on Brandin Cooks, who caught 81 passes for 1,150 yards and 6 touchdowns after being acquired in a commerce from the Los Angeles Rams for a second-round draft choose. Cooks excelled after Fuller was punished by the NFL.

Fuller caught a career-high 53 passes for 879 yards and eight touchdowns earlier than the suspension. Throughout a Thanksgiving Day victory over the Detroit Lions, Fuller caught six passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns as he averaged 28.5 yards per catch on seven targets.

The Texans held commerce discussions with the Inexperienced Bay Packers earlier than the NFL commerce deadline and wished a second-round draft choose in change for Fuller, in line with league sources not approved to talk publicly. The disconnect led to no deal because the Packers had been solely prepared to half with a fourth-round draft choose and wished the Texans to pay a portion of Fuller’s remaining $10.162 million wage.

The Packers are anticipated to be one of many groups that pursue Fuller as a free agent.

As a result of the Chicago Bears and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers used the franchise tag on Allen Robinson and Chris Godwin, Fuller’s main competitors amongst free agent vast receivers consists of the Detroit Lions’ Kenny Golladay and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Few vast receivers are as quick and explosive, although, as Fuller, who has run the 40-yard sprint in 4.28 seconds.

If Fuller does not get the large contract he is in search of with the wage cap set for a flooring of $180 million, then signing a one-year, incentive-laden contract could possibly be his finest short-term possibility earlier than cashing in through the 2022 offseason when the wage cap is predicted to rise considerably.