Tagged!

The Bengals have placed the franchise designation on Pro Bowl running back Rudi Johnson, preventing him from hitting the unrestricted free agent market.

Since the middle of last season, the Bengals and Johnson have been talking about a long-term contract but haven't been able to find the right numbers. Instead of potentially losing him in free agency, the Bengals decided to protect their rights and name him as their franchise player.

Johnson will be tendered a one-year contract offer at $6.23 million, the average value of the top five cap numbers at running back from last season. Any team trying to sign him in free agency would have to forfeit two first-round draft choices.

The two sides have until March 15 to work out a long-term deal; after that, there is a moratorium on teams reaching deals with franchised players until July 15. If a team does sign its franchised player during that time period, it would lose its franchise tag for the following season.