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The NFLs franchise-player deadline gave us some fun on Friday, including a surprise last-second deal between the New York Jets and Muhammad Wilkerson. But it still wasnt the big-money frenzy that it was a year ago.Last year, on the day of the deadline, the?Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos?did long-term deals?with Justin Houston, Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas. The only franchise player who didnt get a long-term deal in 2015 was the?New York Giants Jason Pierre-Paul, who as you surely recall was dealing with extenuating circumstances.This year? Von Miller got his record deal from the?Broncos, kicker?Justin Tucker did a deal with the?Baltimore Ravens?and the Jets?surprised everybody with Wilkerson. Not bad, but that still means?Washington Redskins?quarterback Kirk Cousins,?Chiefs safety Eric Berry,?Los Angeles Rams?cornerback Trumaine Johnson?and?Chicago Bears?receiver Alshon Jeffery?cant negotiate long-term deals again until after the season. Each is tied to his team for one year on a franchise-player price.Thats a win for the teams -- and for the franchise-tag rule itself. Washington gets a year to see if Cousins is the real deal before deciding whether to commit long term to him. Chicago and Kansas City get a year to see if Jeffery and Berry can stay healthy.The difference between last year and this year lies mainly in the caliber of the players, of course. Houston, Bryant and Thomas were all established as high-level performers at key positions. Their teams were sure they wanted to commit long term to them. Of this years crop, Miller and Wilkerson are the only ones on the list of seven whose one-year franchise numbers are clearly less than their market value. If Olivier Vernon is making $17 million, its crazy for Miller to be making $14.13 million.And likewise, Wilkerson performance dictates hes worth J.J. Watt money at the 3-4 DE position. Wilkerson is an established performer and the only member of the 2011 draft class who had yet to hit free agency or sign a long-term deal with the team that drafted him. What made his situation a challenge was that the Jets kept drafting first-round defensive linemen after they picked him and didnt necessarily feel they had to commit big money to him long term to stay strong there. In the end, he got it done, but it was never a sure thing.But these other guys? On the $10.81 million franchise tag, Berry is the highest-paid safety in the NFL by a wide margin over Minnesotas Harrison Smith ($10.25 million). Johnsons $13.95 million tag makes him the fifth-highest-paid cornerback. Jeffery, at $14.6 million, is the second-highest-paid wide receiver. Cousins $19.95 million is a 3,000 percent raise from his 2015 salary.?Because the salary cap keeps going up -- a $32.27 million rise in the past three years -- teams are comfortable carrying these steep cap numbers in the short term while they weigh whether to give out deals with even higher guarantees.Now, agents and top-level players hate the franchise tag because it restricts earnings at the top of the market. But the vast majority of NFL players will never have to worry about the tag, and thats why the union isnt driven to try to abolish it.The fact is, the franchise tag affects so few overall players, its hard to get the majority to rule for that few guys who are affected, said former?Indianapolis Colts?center and union executive committee?member Jeff Saturday, whos now an ESPN analyst. They dont want to hold out or take a season off or whatever it would require to enact a change that would affect so few.So the tag is here to stay, and it will continue to work as a means for teams to delay decisions on long-term commitments to some of their best players. The Von Millers of the world will get their deals, as they should. The Trumaine Johnsons have to show more before they get theirs, which is fair.?But what we have in 2016 is a situation in which the franchise tag is an easy out for teams, because they can afford it and it doesnt upset every player the way it used to. The franchise numbers are tied in part to the rising cap, which is why many of the players affected dont mind. If youre Alshon Jeffery, why would you even want to negotiate a long-term deal now, after missing so many games last year? Making close to $15 million while working to prove youre healthy and worthy of a long-term deal doesnt sound like a bad consolation prize.In the end, this years franchise-tag process was a win for the Bears, Rams, Chiefs and Redskins, who didnt find themselves forced into deals about which they werent sure. This years crop of franchise players didnt make out the way last years did, mainly because outside of Miller and Wilkerson, they didnt come to the table with the same kind of juice. Custom Knicks Jersey China . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Custom Knicks Jerseys . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. http://www.customknicksjersey.com/custom-walt-frazier-jersey-large-169w.html . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. Charles Oakley Jersey Large . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. Custom Charles Oakley Jersey . Mitch Holmberg added a goal and three assists. Connor Chartier also scored for the Chiefs (3-0-0). Luke Harrison spoiled Garrett Hughsons shutout bid with a power-play goal at 13:17 of the third period. The Spokane goaltender finished with 28 saves, including a Brandon Fushimi penalty shot in the second period that would have tied the game 1-1. TORONTO -- Rogers Cup fans got a glimpse of whats been touted as the next big thing in American tennis for some time. Sloane Stephens debuted at the womens tournament Monday with a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory over Frances Kristina Mladenovic in the opening round. The world No. 17-ranked Stephens has been labelled the natural successor to Serena and Venus Williams in the American womens game. This year shes proving why, with a semifinal showing at the Australian Open and quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon. Stephens insists she doesnt let the hype affect her game. "Obviously most of the attention I get is pretty positive," said Stephens. "Its because people want to see me do well and Im American and thats awesome, but I mean theres a little downfall of that too. There is a lot of pressure ... and things like that. "You just have to deal with it and play hard and imagine what (Andy) Murray deals with in England and what Serena has dealt with for so many years. Its definitely tough but people have done it before." The 20-year-old Stephens battled back from down 5-3 in the second set to win the match in 90 minutes, 40 seconds. She looked strong from the first game as she broke Mladenovic twice to jump out to a 3-0 lead. The No. 39-ranked Frenchwoman tried to play aggressive by attacking the net, but Stephens blew a forehand by her to make it 4-0. "She comes in a lot and volleys really well," said Stephens. "I knew probably she was going to press a little and make me play more balls. But I tried to stay with it and hit a lot of angles and move her and it seemed to work." Mladenovic had a chance to break and make it 4-2 but returned the ball long, then wide before Stephens reversed momentum to win the game and pull ahead 5-1. Mladenovic appeared en route to forcing a third set with a 5-3 lead in the second, but Stephens won three straight games before closing out the match in a tiebreak. "She upped her game a lot in the second set," said Stephens. "Some nights its going to be up and down, but I thought I stayed pretty solid and got through it." Stephens will next face Germanys Mona Barthel, who advanced with a 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-6(1) win over Chinas Jie Zheng. Carol Zhao, meanwhile, became the first Canadian ousted from the tournaments main draw. The 18-year-old qualifier from nearby Richmond Hill, Ont., lost 6-1, 6-3 to Russias Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Zhao, making her first appearance in the Rogers Cup main draw, looked overpowered by the Russian in the first set but fought back for a 3-0 lead in the secoond.dddddddddddd "I think I just tried to simplify my game plan (in the second set), and I think it rattled her a little bit," said Zhao. "I think the next step for me is trying to maintain that level of play for a longer period of time." Pavlyuchenkova rallied back to make it 4-3 before winning the match on serve. Shell meet four-seed Li Na of China in the second round. Zhao says the experience of playing her first Rogers Cup will be a lasting memory. "I think there is nothing really like coming to play the Rogers Cup. This is a tournament I grew up watching," said Zhao. "Getting an opportunity to play in the main draw is a dream come true." Most of the pre-tournament buzz has been around her fellow Canadian Eugenie Bouchard who lost in doubles on Monday with partner Kirsten Flipkens of Germany. The duo fell to Oksana Kalashnikova and Alicja Rosolska 4-6, 6-3, 10-7. Bouchard, a Westmount, Que., native who is the main draw on a wild card, will play her first singles match on Tuesday night against Russias Alisa Kleybanova. Bouchard turned heads at Wimbledon this year when she advanced to the third round with victory over former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic. Flavia Pennetta and Yanina Wickmayer were among the early winners in Mondays opening round. Pennetta of Italy became the first player through to the second round after she eliminated Urszula Radwanska 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, while Belgiums Wickmayer ousted American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Mattek-Sands was called upon shortly before the match after Britains Laura Robson pulled out with a right wrist injury. Known for her eye-catching fashion sense, Mattek-Sands sported black socks and wrist bands with a streak of green in her blonde hair. The world No. 32-ranked Robson -- set to make her Rogers Cup debut -- joins a list of injured players who withdrew from the tournament, including top-5 seeds Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka. Robson was coming off a strong performance at Wimbledon where she reached the fourth round -- the first British woman to do it since 1998. In other early results Monday, Dominika Cibulkova knocked off fellow Slovakian Jana Cepelova 7-5, 6-4; Romanias Sorana Cirstea moved on with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Ukrainian qualifier Olga Savchuk; 10-seed Roberta Vinci of Italy beat Germanys Julia Goerges 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands defeated American Alison Riske 6-4, 1-6, 6-3; Varvara Lepchenko of the U.S. won 6-3, 6-1 over Ayumi Morita of Japan; and Klara Zakopalova was a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 winner over fellow Czech Lucie Safarova. ' ' '