Just because you have the ability to use the franchise tag, doesn't mean one has to use it. Unless, of course, long-term negotiations stall and using said tag enables team to further negotiate a deal that is in the team's and player's best interests.

On Monday, the Bengals elected to use that franchise tag on place kicker, Shayne Graham, allowing him to earn $2,483,000, all of it guaranteed once he signs the tender.

Graham is the third Bengals player tagged in as many seasons, the last being Stacy Andrews who the team couldn't get signed to a long-term deal during the last off-season; the first being Justin Smith who signed a massive deal with San Francisco after his "franchise" season of two quarterback sacks.

Graham now has the opportunity of removing an interesting curse of Bengals players performing under expectations -- therefore, not worth the cost -- during the season in which they were franchised.