The Arizona Cardinals made a somewhat surprising move before the negotiating window opened on Monday by announcing they placed the transition tag on free agent running back Kenyan Drake.

We have placed the transition tag on RB Kenyan Drake. Details ➡️ https://t.co/RhCIlLVpk7 pic.twitter.com/2Brq6LcLvw — Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) March 16, 2020

Placing the tag on Drake means he is subject to a $10,098,000 salary in 2020.

The transition tag turns an unrestricted free agent into a restricted one as it permits Drake to receive offers from other teams while giving the Cardinals the right to match any offer sheet that Drake receives from one of the other 29 teams.

The value of the tag is the average of the top-10 highest-paid players at the tagged player’s position or 120 percent of what the player made the previous year (whichever is greater).

Drake began his career with the Dolphins in 2016 and didn’t make his way to Arizona until the middle of 2019. In eight games with Arizona (all starts), Drake appeared to take over the starting role from former star David Johnson. He had 123 carries for 643 yards and eight scores. He also added 22 catches for 174 yards.

Drake can still sign with a different team, but the Cardinals now have the right to bring him back, which seems like the most popular outcome.

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