2016 Franchise Tag Figures & The New Orleans Saints - How Do They Stack Up?

Although the New Orleans Saints are in all likelihood not in the market to use either the 2016 franchise or transition tags to sign any of their potential free agents, I did take notice when our Friend From the North (not Jon Snow), FrenchieQ, posted the Fanshot with the 2016 figures for these designations. It made me wonder how the highest base salaries of the Saints players by position match up with these amounts.

But before we dig into that, let's review what exactly these tags are and how they are calculated...

According to the current CBA:

The Non-Exclusive Franchise Tag figure is a one-year contract amount based on the average of the top five largest salaries from the player's position in the previous league year, or 120 percent of his previous salary, whichever number is higher. Other teams may negotiate a contract with this player, and if the player chooses to sign with the other team, his previous team receives two first round draft choices as compensation.

The Exclusive Franchise Tag figure is a one-year contract amount based on the average of the top five largest salaries from the player's position as calculated at the end of the free agency period in the CURRENT league year, or 120 percent of his previous salary, whichever number is higher. Other teams may not negotiate a contract with a player who has been given this designation.

The Transition Tag figure is a one-year contract amount based on the average of the top 10 largest salaries from the player's position from the previous league year. or 120 percent of his previous salary. Other teams may negotiate with the player, and his previous team has the right of first refusal for any contract negotiated with another team.

And here is a handy dandy chart that shows the 2016 tag figures along with the corresponding Saints players with the highest base salaries by position (salary source):

So, as another in our series of CSC offseason content in the "we report, you help us analyze" spirit, let's hash it out in the comment section. What does this mean? Are there any surprises here? Anything of interest need to be pointed out here?