Deadline passes without Vikings tagging anyone

This has been an open secret for a week or so, but now it’s officially official.

The deadline for NFL teams to place either the Franchise or Transition Player tag on any pending free agents officially passed at 3:00 PM Central time. After some speculation about it early on in the period, the Minnesota Vikings chose not to tag any of the three quarterbacks on their roster that will become free agents a week from tomorrow, so they will all be hitting the open market.

Case Keenum was a possibility for the tag, but he did not receive it. Nor did Sam Bradford or Teddy Bridgewater, which isn’t really that much of a surprise.

All of this points to what we’ve been hearing for the past few days, and that’s the Vikings well and truly going “all-in” in an effort to bring (soon-to-be) former Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins to Minnesota. Cousins had played under the franchise tag for two years in Washington, but will hit unrestricted free agency in eight days.

Several teams did end up using the Franchise or Transition tags. The Vikings’ NFC North rivals, the Chicago Bears, placed the Transition Tag on cornerback Kyle Fuller, which could cost them $12.9 million.

The following players received the franchise tag from their teams:

• Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell
• Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry
• Dallas Cowboys defensive end Demarcus Lawrence
• Detroit Lions defensive end Ezekiel Ansah
• Los Angeles Rams safety Lamarcus Joyner

No tags for the Vikings this year, who have still used either tag just twice in team history. Yeah, we knew it was coming, but now it’s official.