Eagles franchise Smith

The Philadelphia Eagles franchised tight end LJ Smith today. Kind of a surprise that they did due to his recent injury history. He's starting to becoming a walking MASH unit. BUT, with the franchise number for tight ends only being $4.5 million this becomes a reasonable decision. And if he for some reason decides to leave they'll save the money and get a decent draft pick in return.

Here's the most interesting part thou about this franchise designation. The Eagles aren't even attempting to negotiate with Smith on any long-term deal, like you would normally see in this situation. So it looks like the Eagles don't want to give up on LJ just yet, but they are definitely going to make him earn that long term deal.