In mid-March, Lu Ke started his offseason training at UCLA; At the same time, the offseason preparations for the 32 teams have officially begun, and the rookie training camp will start in two weeks, and the free agency market will open at the same time, which means that the smoke of preparation for the new season will be ignited.

Is it a free market reinforcement or a gold pan in the draft? What positions can be invested in rookies, and what positions should be filled by veterans? Are there any eye-catching players on top of the draft who, even if they don't need them, don't hesitate to "stock up" for development? Are there any high-profile players in the free market who can be added to or missed their teams?

Every decision can affect the preparation of the new season, and the gathering and accumulation of information is undoubtedly crucial before entering the first round of the new season, and the 32 teams have opened their own information networks, spread across the North American continent and even overseas football markets, and are in full swing to prepare.

Among them, Lu Ke's contract renewal news is undoubtedly the most eye-catching.

Everyone knows that Lu Ke will win a big contract, and San Francisco will definitely not want to let Lu Ke go, but the question is, how big is this contract? More importantly, if San Francisco can't match the contract Lu Ke is looking for, will things take a turn for the better? Maybe even stir up the whole league again?

ESPN reporter Adam-Schefter was the first to tweet, "San Francisco, haven't you decided on your mind right now? The subtext is that Lu Ke has made an offer, but San Francisco is still considering it, which is good news for the other 31 teams.

According to Luke's rookie contract, he was a San Francisco 49ers player until August 1, 2013. Before the deadline, San Francisco still has the initiative, and Lu Ke cannot become a free agent.

According to the rules, before Lu Ke becomes a free agent, San Francisco has the option to renew his contract, choose to use the privilege tag, and also have the option to match offers from other teams, and only after San Francisco has waived all relevant rights, Lu Ke can freely join other teams.

The rookie contract is so domineering, and the rookie basically doesn't have much initiative.

One of the most interesting things is the privilege tag.

In the NFL, the privilege tag refers to a type of power available to a team, a special rule for an upcoming unrestricted free agent. If the conditions are met, the tag will last between the player and the team for one year, ensuring that the player will remain in the team; However, each team only has one Privilege Tag slot and one Transition Tag slot per year, so each team can only select one player per year as a Privileged Tag player.

The privilege label means that the player is owned by the team and is not allowed to negotiate with other teams; The transitional label means that the player is still owned by the team, but it is allowed to negotiate with other teams. Depending on the label, the remuneration, terms, restrictions, incentives, etc. stipulated in the contract will be different.

Typically, the privilege tag is for players who have top quality and are important to the team, but who can't negotiate a contract extension.

The privilege tag allows team managers to strategically keep those all-important free agents, while at the same time, finding top players through the draft or free agency to complete the offseason preparation without exceeding the hard salary cap. Occasionally, a team may also make a player a privileged player on a contract of two years or more.

Players who are selected for the privilege label will receive a one-year salary guarantee if they agree to play for the team and do not negotiate contracts with other players.

But if you refuse to sign the privilege tag, then the player will not be able to transfer. Even if a player strikes, the team that has already used the privilege tag will have to pay a portion of the remuneration according to the terms of the contract – however, in the case of the privilege tag, the player's salary will be significantly reduced due to the relevant clauses, or may even be non-paid. Of course, teams can also revoke the privilege label they offered, and the player will revert to being an unrestricted free agent.

Privilege tag players can also be subdivided into two types: exclusive privileged players and non-exclusive privileged players.

In the case of an exclusive player, the team must offer the player a one-year contract at a salary not less than the average of the five highest annual paid players in the league for the same position in the same year, as measured by the contract figure at the time the label went into effect in April of that year; Or 120% of the player's previous year's salary, whichever is higher.

Exclusive privileged players are not allowed to make transfer contacts with other teams.

In the case of a non-exclusive player, the team must offer the player a one-year contract at a salary not less than the average of the five highest-paid players in the same position in the previous five seasons, or 120% of the player's salary in the previous year, whichever is higher.

Exclusive privileged players are allowed to interact with other players. However, after a player reaches a transfer agreement with another team, the original team can still choose to match the contract and keep the player; Or, if the original player loses a player without a matching contract, they can also get two first-round picks as compensation.

It is worth noting that the wages of exclusive privileged players are calculated on the basis of "same year", while the wages of non-exclusive privileged players are calculated on the basis of "the first five years", and the difference in wages is also significant according to the law of the league's hard salary cap rising every year.

But whether it is an exclusive privilege or a non-exclusive privilege, because the average number is taken, the final number of the contract will certainly not be higher than the player's psychological expectations. The team is the one who has the upper hand.

What's the deal with the so-called privilege label?

Simply take Lu Ke as an example.

For example, now Lech has proposed a five-year, $100 million ultra-high contract, and the San Francisco 49ers don't want to agree, or can't agree because of the hard salary cap, or because in addition to Lu Ke, there are several other important players waiting for contract renewals, and it is very likely that they will be subject to the hard salary cap and take care of one or the other, but at the same time they don't want to miss Lu Ke, then they can choose to use the privilege label at this time.

After attaching the privilege label, Lu Ke was temporarily left in the team and waited for the contract renewal to be completed next year. At that time, the number of players who need to renew their contracts will be different, and the pressure on the hard salary cap will be eased, which will also give the team more room to negotiate.

Of course, there are occasional rare occurrences. In the first year, use privilege tags; The following year, if the player still refuses to compromise and asks for a contract that is too high, or the team is still facing a hard salary cap, so the privilege tag is used again, then the salary must be increased by 144% from the previous year.

This was the case with Pittsburgh Steelers' running back LeVeon-Bell in 2018, who was used the privilege label for two years in a row, which caused strong dissatisfaction with LeVeon, and then LeVeon went out with the team in the form of a boycott, and the result was a lose-lose situation, but overall, the team still had the upper hand.

As an aside, if you want to know which positions were the most valuable in the current or recent years, the privilege label is a very good bellwether.

According to ESPN, since 1993, there have been 30 offensive forwards with privileged performances, with 27 defensive forwards, 26 linebacks, and four punkers. In other words, the management has always believed that players on both fronts are more cost-effective.

Why?

Because being labeled as privileged means that a player is facing consecutive contract years, and if he is not careful, his performance will decline, or even an injury, then the salary of the next long-term contract will shrink a lot. After all, in many positions, rugby players don't live long. Not to mention being used for two years in a row with the privilege label, and the pressure will increase exponentially.

That's what team managers look for most when choosing a privilege label – they have to maximize the team's interests.

Outside of the forward line, the quarterback has only been labeled privileged only 10 times, compared to 11 times for the close end and running back.

The focus is refocused on Lu Ke, now, Lu Ke is still a player of the San Francisco 49ers, and San Francisco still has the initiative to renew the contract, and they still have many possibilities to think about slowly - of course, they have not used the privilege label yet, which also means that they are still seeking to renew their contract with Lu Ke.

The San Francisco 49ers management is well aware that renewing Luke's contract is crucial to the team's confidence, the enthusiasm of the fans, and the preparation for the new season. Privilege labels, unless they have to, they will never use them, but they need to keep Lu Ke in a dignified and inspiring manner.

Business is business, and San Francisco management is in a tug-of-war right now, but at least, they're still proactive, which is good news.

According to the rules of the league, Lu Ke cannot make contact with other teams until he becomes a free agent; But the rule is that the dead are alive, and now San Francisco has not given Lu Ke a privileged label for the time being, so a contact, temptation and inquiry in private is inevitable.

Or, other teams directly and neatly and straight to the point called San Francisco's team manager Trent Balke, "Can Lu Ke be open for trades", which is also allowed by the rules. If the news of the team's tentative inquiries leaks out, it will also make the media reporters even more excited.

So, naturally, San Francisco has not made a decision for a long time, and rumors in the industry have begun to boil and surge. Almost everyone began to rush around for news.

ESPN opened Pandora's box, and all sorts of transfer news began to emerge.