Here is an interesting article where a fan site was granted an interview with a player, although the player remained anonymous at the request of his agent:

http://seahawks.scout.com/2/368355.html

By definition, the Franchise tag can be used by an NFL team to keep one of their pending free agents from signing with any other teams. T he team must tender the player a one-year contract that is the minimum of the average of the five largest salaries (as of April 15) for players at the position at which he played the most games during the prior year, or 120% of his prior year salary, whichever is greater. For Alexander, this would amount to $6.32 million for the tender. For James, who earned $6.73 million in 2004, the tag comes with a guaranteed amount of $8.076 million.

According to G.L., while this sum may seem like a lot of cash, the money isn’t the issue that causes some players to balk at the offer. “The player knows that they will make the money, if the team uses the franchise tag on him, he’s one of the top guys in the league, so it’s not the pay for them. It’s about the freedom to choose what’s best, and the lack of long-term commitment that the tag shows.”

“Look, if the player is unhappy with his current surroundings, say it’s the city or the team or the coach, they feel that they should be able to better their situation, even if it means taking less money to do it. The tag takes that freedom away from the player, so it can really feel like a slap in the face to him. The other problem is that no player wants to play for a one year contract when they know that they could get a long term contract from somewhere else if they could have the chance.”