Fearing that they would lose him to a higher bidder, the
Carolina Panthers preserved the chance of keeping DeShaun Foster by placing the transition tag on him Thursday.
He was one of six players who were either franchised or transitioned, but he was the only one out of a great group of running backs.
Edgerrin James, Jamal Lewis and Ahman Green weren't franchised or transitioned and are available as free agents. Shaun Alexander also wasn't "tagged," but the Seahawks were prohibited from franchising him again per an agreement when he signed his one-year tender last summer.
The Panthers feared they would not be able to keep Foster in an open market, so they have a right to match any offer Foster receives. If the Panthers choose not to match any offer Foster might
receive, they would not receive any compensation if Foster signed
elsewhere.
David Dunn, Foster's agent, was not immediately available for
comment.
The transition number for a running back is $5.153 million, and the Panthers were willing to risk that to keep their options open for Foster. They are tight against the cap, particularly if there is no collective bargaining extension, but re-signing Foster was one of their main priorities.
Foster led the Panthers this year with 879 yards and two
touchdowns on 205 attempts in 2005 and ranked second on the team
with 34 catches for 372 yards and one touchdown. He had hit his
stride during the playoffs, but broke his leg in the second half of
Carolina's win over Chicago and missed the NFC championship.
A second-round draft choice from UCLA in 2002, he has played in
33 games with 10 starts in four NFL seasons and has rushed for
1,563 yards and four touchdowns on 377 carries.
The Panthers will likely release running back Stephen Davis in
the coming weeks. Davis had major knee surgery last year and lost
his starting job to Foster.
John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.