Indianapolis Colts Place Franchise Tag On Punter Pat McAfee

The Indianapolis Colts used the franchise tag on punter Pat McAfee on Friday, per Mike Garafolo of the USA Today.

McAfee was selected by Indy in the seventh round (No. 222 overall) out of West Virginia of the 2009 NFL Draft.

Though it doesn’t happen often, McAfee isn’t the first player at the position to ever receive the franchise tag.

Photo Credit: Matt Bowen/Colts.com

In 2003, the Carolina Panthers placed the tag on Todd Sauerbrun.  Six years later, the Falcons tagged Michael Koenen.  And last year, Steve Weatherford was retained by the New York Giants, who were the defending Super Bowl champions at the time.

This is a solid move by Indianapolis, as it appears that McAfee deserves to be paid among the top five players at his position.  He ranked in the Top 10 in touchback percentage on kickoffs and was rated as the third-most valuable punter by Pro Football Focus.

McAfee punted 73 times for 3,520 yards in 2012, averaging 48.2 yards per attempt and placing the ball inside the red zone 26 times.  For his career, the 6-1, 220-pound punter has booted the ball 290 times for 13,186 yards (11,191 net yards) and his longest punt went 66 yards in 2010.

He also led the team in special teams tackles in 2011 and his ability to handle kickoffs gives him added value.

Moreover, McAfee has built a huge following on Twitter and has proven to be great presence in the community.

Michael Gartman is a College Football and NFL Senior Writer, the AFC South and NFC West Lead Writer and the Founder, CEO of GridironGrit.com.  He’s also about to start reporting on topics across all sides of the political spectrum and analyze important issues in the liberty movement for a political website.  Follow him @_MichaelGartman on Twitter.  Be sure to ‘like’ Gridiron Grit on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @GridironGrit to keep up with the latest coverage on college football, the NFL and more!