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Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson sees the franchise tag as something other than a pair of golden handcuffs. And he said last Friday that he’ll be happy to put his hands behind his back and allow the bracelets to be applied.

But he still hasn’t signed the franchise tender. And for good reason.

He can’t.

Per a league source, the franchise tenders haven’t officially been extended to players like Jackson, who’ll be getting the non-exclusive amount for receivers (expected to be in the range of $9.4 million). The tenders haven’t been extended because the amount can’t be determined. The amount can’t be determined because the number is based on a percentage of the unadjusted salary cap.

And teams still don’t know, less than five days before the start of free agency, the amount of the salary cap. It’s something we’ve pointed out a few times this week, and with each passing hour it becomes more remarkable that the 32 teams don’t know what the 2012 spending limit will be.