defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6

The NFLs franchise-player deadline gave us some fun on Friday, including a surprise last-second deal between the New York Jets and Muhammad Wilkerson. But it still wasnt the big-money frenzy that it was a year ago.Last year, on the day of the deadline, the?Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos?did long-term deals?with Justin Houston, Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas. The only franchise player who didnt get a long-term deal in 2015 was the?New York Giants Jason Pierre-Paul, who as you surely recall was dealing with extenuating circumstances.This year? Von Miller got his record deal from the?Broncos, kicker?Justin Tucker did a deal with the?Baltimore Ravens?and the Jets?surprised everybody with Wilkerson. Not bad, but that still means?Washington Redskins?quarterback Kirk Cousins,?Chiefs safety Eric Berry,?Los Angeles Rams?cornerback Trumaine Johnson?and?Chicago Bears?receiver Alshon Jeffery?cant negotiate long-term deals again until after the season. Each is tied to his team for one year on a franchise-player price.Thats a win for the teams -- and for the franchise-tag rule itself. Washington gets a year to see if Cousins is the real deal before deciding whether to commit long term to him. Chicago and Kansas City get a year to see if Jeffery and Berry can stay healthy.The difference between last year and this year lies mainly in the caliber of the players, of course. Houston, Bryant and Thomas were all established as high-level performers at key positions. Their teams were sure they wanted to commit long term to them. Of this years crop, Miller and Wilkerson are the only ones on the list of seven whose one-year franchise numbers are clearly less than their market value. If Olivier Vernon is making $17 million, its crazy for Miller to be making $14.13 million.And likewise, Wilkerson performance dictates hes worth J.J. Watt money at the 3-4 DE position. Wilkerson is an established performer and the only member of the 2011 draft class who had yet to hit free agency or sign a long-term deal with the team that drafted him. What made his situation a challenge was that the Jets kept drafting first-round defensive linemen after they picked him and didnt necessarily feel they had to commit big money to him long term to stay strong there. In the end, he got it done, but it was never a sure thing.But these other guys? On the $10.81 million franchise tag, Berry is the highest-paid safety in the NFL by a wide margin over Minnesotas Harrison Smith ($10.25 million). Johnsons $13.95 million tag makes him the fifth-highest-paid cornerback. Jeffery, at $14.6 million, is the second-highest-paid wide receiver. Cousins $19.95 million is a 3,000 percent raise from his 2015 salary.?Because the salary cap keeps going up -- a $32.27 million rise in the past three years -- teams are comfortable carrying these steep cap numbers in the short term while they weigh whether to give out deals with even higher guarantees.Now, agents and top-level players hate the franchise tag because it restricts earnings at the top of the market. But the vast majority of NFL players will never have to worry about the tag, and thats why the union isnt driven to try to abolish it.The fact is, the franchise tag affects so few overall players, its hard to get the majority to rule for that few guys who are affected, said former?Indianapolis Colts?center and union executive committee?member Jeff Saturday, whos now an ESPN analyst. They dont want to hold out or take a season off or whatever it would require to enact a change that would affect so few.So the tag is here to stay, and it will continue to work as a means for teams to delay decisions on long-term commitments to some of their best players. The Von Millers of the world will get their deals, as they should. The Trumaine Johnsons have to show more before they get theirs, which is fair.?But what we have in 2016 is a situation in which the franchise tag is an easy out for teams, because they can afford it and it doesnt upset every player the way it used to. The franchise numbers are tied in part to the rising cap, which is why many of the players affected dont mind. If youre Alshon Jeffery, why would you even want to negotiate a long-term deal now, after missing so many games last year? Making close to $15 million while working to prove youre healthy and worthy of a long-term deal doesnt sound like a bad consolation prize.In the end, this years franchise-tag process was a win for the Bears, Rams, Chiefs and Redskins, who didnt find themselves forced into deals about which they werent sure. This years crop of franchise players didnt make out the way last years did, mainly because outside of Miller and Wilkerson, they didnt come to the table with the same kind of juice.Barry Sanders Lions Jersey . Their 38th instalment is arguably their biggest fight card to date, including three-title fights and a main event which was selected by the fans. The promotion boasts 14-straight years of business and is operated by MFC president Mark Pavelich, who is often overlooked in this country for the foundation hes established for MMA in Canada. Kenny Golladay Womens Jersey . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. 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On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Matthew Stafford Jersey . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field.BOSTON -- Red Sox slugger David Ortiz has hit his 537th home run, moving past Mickey Mantle for 17th on baseballs career list.Ortiz, who says this will be his final season, homered into the center-field bleachers Thursday night at Fenway Park against New York Yankeess reliever Adam Warren in the eighth inning to cut Bostons deficit to 5-2.ddddddddddddMike Schmidt is 16th on the home run list with 548. ' ' '