The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were not able to reach a contract agreement with placekicker Connor Barth before the franchise tag deadline hit. As such, they've placed the franchise tag on the fifth-year kicker, which gives him a one-year contract with a fully guaranteed salary, projected to be worth around $2.665 million. Connor Barth set an accuracy record for field goals last season, hitting on 26 of 28 field goals.
This is a record year for use of the franchise tag, which seems to be caused by lower tag numbers across the board. By my count, 21 teams have used the franchise tag at this point. Five kickers and one punter have been franchised, which means the Bucs certainly aren't the only team to use the franchise tag on kicking specialists. The Bucs have made it known that they would like to sign Connor Barth to a long-term contract, and the franchise tag gives them time to do so while still keeping him on the team.