Dansby Will Sign One-Year Tender

Long-term contract talks between Karlos Dansby and the Arizona Cardinals came to a stalemate Wednesday with the announcement that Dansby will sign his one-year tender offer, valued at just over $8 million. The silver lining for Arizona? Dansby will resume workouts at the team facility while striving to hammer out a long-term deal.

Cardinals accountants might feel the pinch of the $8.065 they could have to shell out to Karlos Dansby if a long-term agreement can not be reached by July 15. The one-year tender that Dansby’s agent announced will be signed within the next few days is a hit to Arizona’s salary cap and available offseason monies, which could have been used to pick up additional free agents.

Additional salary cap space could also have gone towards new contracts for Darnell Dockett and Anquan Boldin. Dockett is holding out from offseason activities in pursuit of a new deal, although GM Rod Graves has indicated he is unwilling to oblige with Dansby just one season into a new five-year deal.

On the other hand, the Cardinals knew the franchise tag was a tool to buy them more time in dealing with the Dansby situation and hope the tender will be void and null upon the signing of a multi-year contract. Graves continues to express his content with Dansby and his importance in bringing the club to the next level.

The Cardinals used the tag in order to keep Dansby from testing the open market, but will not throw erroneous cash his way despite four years of high production.

"As I said to him, we both have expressed points that are important to us in getting a new deal but I think we both agree he is an excellent football player and an important part of our football team," Graves said. "We want him here for years to come."

Graves has had to deal with a lot of contract talks this offseason and isn’t finished yet. He has plenty of thoughts on the process and the tag as an increasingly popular weapon.

"I think teams have done a pretty good job of keeping their own players and not allowing them to get to the point of free agency,” Graves said. “So, when you have a lot of money tied up in those players -- you can’t pay that kind of money to everybody who wants a big deal -- so the franchise tag just allows you an opportunity to pay them an average of the top five or get him a long-term deal.

"I just think the franchise tag is more or less a tool to allow you an opportunity to negotiate over a longer period. I think we’ll have to evaluate how many were actually left with those designations after July 15."