How the Minnesota Vikings can bring back Anthony Barr
By Adam Carlson
3. Use the transition tag
Somewhat like the franchise tag, the Vikings could get a loose grip on Anthony Barr by placing a transition tag on him. The way it differs from the franchise tag is that it usually costs less, but offers less assurance the player will actually stay.
The salary cap hit for Barr under the transition tag would normally be an estimated $12.376 million according to Over The Cap for a player at his position but his 2018 salary of $12.306 makes him go to a different category where the tag would cost 120% of that cost. Which means the tag would cost an estimated $14.7672 million.
Other teams could still make offers on the player with the Vikings having the option to match the contract offer. However, with the tag cost being that high, an offer that would beat the price might be hard to find.
The right of refusal means that if a team makes an offer the Vikings choose not to match, Barr would go to that team and Minnesota would have no cap hit and receive no compensation. But will the team be willing to lay down that kind of money in the first place?