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The NFL began laying the groundwork for free agency as the deadline to apply the franchise tag to their players passed with some interesting decisions being made.

We'll get the ball rolling in Chicago, where one of the top potential free-agent receivers won't hit the open market.

The Bears placed their franchise tag on Allen Robinson.

As NFL.com's Kevin Patra noted, the move was expected as the Bears sorely needed to keep their top offensive playmaker in Chicago.

The salary cap is not officially set, so figures aren't finalized, but the franchise tender for wide receivers is expected to be around $15.8 million in 2021.

Patra went on to contend Robinson is one of the most underappreciated star receivers in the NFL. The wideout carried the Chicago offense, yet the Bears brass has yet to lock the 27-year-old down on a long-term deal. Sides will have until mid-July to hammer out a deal or Robinson will play on the one-year tender.

Robinson ranked tied for first in the NFL with 12 games of 70-plus yards receiving in 2020 (tied with Stefon Diggs). He totaled 102 catches for 1,250 yards and six TDs.

In the past two seasons, with shoddy QB play, Robinson ranked third in total receptions (200), third in receiving yards (2,397), and second in receiving first downs created (131).

In fact, with his sure hands and ability to dominate on tight-window receptions, Robinson has produced throughout his career despite playing with less-than-stellar trigger men.

To that second point, Robinson has pulled in 47 of 121 tight-window targets (less than one yard of separation) since 2018 -- most in the NFL. He generated 692 yards and six TDs on such plays.

Dominating on tight-window throws underscores how much the stud wideout helped out his quarterbacks. Even when covered, Robinson made plays.

As rough as Chicago's offense has been overall the past two years, imagine how hideous it would have been to watch without Robinson in the lineup.

Robinson has been vocal about getting a long-term deal done in Chicago. Those feelings have yet to be reciprocated by management. As such, Patra reminded readers that Robinson is a candidate to sit out all offseason -- even if most sessions are only virtual -- if a long-term solution isn't finalized by the deadline. ...

In Tampa Bay. ... Chris Godwin saw it coming, and it came true on Tuesday.

The Buccaneers the placing the franchise tag on the wide receiver.

Godwin will stick around in Tampa with the defending Super Bowl champion Bucs in a move that made the most sense to try to keep the team's top targets intact for quarterback Tom Brady. Tampa can still strike a long-term deal with Godwin, one that could end up backloaded to remove some financial pressure from the team's immediate situation, but the tag ensures Godwin won't land somewhere else in 2021.

As he said last month, Godwin is fine with such an outcome, because winning makes him happy (and that nearly $16 million guaranteed salary doesn't hurt either).

"I'm not going to put myself in a situation where I'm going to be miserable for some years to come just for a couple extra dollars," Godwin said. "I think my happiness is paramount in all of this and part of that happiness is winning."

Godwin caught 65 passes for 840 yards and seven touchdowns in his first season playing with Brady, serving as an excellent No. 2 target alongside Mike Evans.

After trudging through fruitless campaigns of the past, Godwin maximized his first legitimate postseason experience, catching 16 passes for 232 yards and a touchdown in the Buccaneers' four playoff games, including a five-catch, 110-yard performance in Tampa's upset of the Green Bay Packers in the NFC title game.

In Detroit. ... On the same day the Lions officially welcomed an under-the-radar signing to bolster their changing receiving corps, they're likely saying goodbye to their best option at the position.

Detroit does not plan on franchise tagging receiver Kenny Golladay.

The move signals Golladay's departure for the free-agent market, where he'll command a healthy salary that almost certainly won't be with the Lions, who are currently not in a position to sign anyone with significant compensation due to cap space limitations. It also means the Lions are likely going to be hamstrung at the position, which won't exactly help ease their transition into the start of the Jared Goff era in Detroit.

As Detroit Free Press staffer Dave Birkett reminded readers, Golladay had been seeking a long-term contract worth north of $18 million per season, but negotiations stalled last fall after the receiver market was thrown into disarray by the coronavirus pandemic.

Golladay expressed frustration with contract talks last fall, taking to Instagram to remind the Lions after a four-catch, 105-yard game against the Jacksonville Jaguars that, "This (expletive) gone cost you!"

He played just two games and caught only six passes the rest of the season, straining his hip flexor in a Week 8 loss to the Indianapolis Colts that kept him out the final two months.

When all was said and done, Golladay appeared in five games in 2020, catching 20 passes for 338 yards and two touchdowns after he'd posted consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and snagged a combined 16 touchdown receptions between 2018 and 2019.

General manager Brad Holmes told reporters a week ago his team would not rush any significant decision, which includes a future with Golladay.

There's still time to get a long-term deal done, but the lack of cap space available makes that highly unlikely.

With Matthew Stafford gone for the sunny skies of Los Angeles and the Lions beginning a new era under coach Dan Campbell, perhaps it's best for Golladay to move on, too.

With Golladay free to sign elsewhere beginning next week, the Lions have major work to do on their receiving corps. Four of their other top five receivers from last season -- Marvin Jones, Danny Amendola, Mohamed Sanu and Jamal Agnew -- will be unrestricted free agents, and only Quintez Cephus returns from last season.

The Lions officially signed Tyrell Williams to a one-year contract Tuesday, but remain in the market for help at the position in free agency and the draft, where they have the No. 7 pick.

In Green Bay. ... Aaron Jones' time in Green Bay isn't officially over, but his chances of returning to the Packers have gotten slimmer after Tuesday's franchise tag deadline passed.

The Packers did not use their tag on the running back before the deadline, meaning Jones' lone chance of returning to Green Bay is with a new deal signed before free agency opens with the start of the new league year next week.

That might make things difficult.

The franchise tag for running backs is expected to cost just over $8 million. Green Bay is currently $11.4 million over a projected salary cap of $180.5 million, per OverTheCap.com, and while a higher actual salary cap might ease that burden a bit, it's still far from the space necessary to secure Jones to a deal that fits his market value.

Still, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports Green Bay is attempting to re-sign him before he the signing period opens on March 17.

A year after opting to draft a quarterback of the future instead of supplying Aaron Rodgers with an offensive weapon, the Packers very well could be watching another walk in a week's time.

Jones posted consecutive 1,000-plus-yard rushing seasons in 2019 and 2020, rushing for 25 touchdowns over that span. He blossomed in Matt LaFleur's offense after former coach Mike McCarthy frustrated football fans everywhere by failing to properly utilize him, but his production in the last two seasons should net him a lavish new deal.

It just might not come in Green Bay. With the start of free agency very close, the Packers have little time to waste if they want to retain their best back.

Remember: The Packers also have Jamaal Williams on track for free agency in their backfield with 2020 second-round pick A.J. Dillon set to return. ...

In Seattle. ... The Seahawks did not place their franchise tag on running back Chris Carson.

Since general manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll arrived in 2010, the Seahawks have only used the franchise tag twice. They did so with kicker Olindo Mare in 2010 and with defensive end Frank Clark in 2019, though they traded Clark to the Kansas City Chiefs the week of that year's NFL draft.

The Seahawks did not attempt to extend Carson last offseason even though the powerful ball carrier had just topped 1,100 rushing yards for the second straight season. The reason, a source told ESPN.com's Brady Henderson, was that the Seahawks were going "all-in" on 2020, which meant adding other players with cash and cap space they would have had to set aside for that extension.

Carson, 26, is coming off a season in which he totaled 968 yards from scrimmage and nine touchdowns, but an early career trend continued as he missed four games with a foot injury.

Carson has been one of the league's most productive running backs when healthy, but he has missed 19 of a possible 64 regular-season games since entering the league as a seventh-round pick out of Oklahoma State in 2017.

He rushed for 1,151 yards in 2018 and then a career-best 1,230 in 2019, becoming the first Seahawks player since Marshawn Lynch in 2013 and '14 to top the 1,000-yard rushing mark in consecutive seasons. Carson played in all but three regular-season games in that two-year stretch, and his 2,381 combined rushing yards in those two seasons was fifth best among NFL running backs while his 16 rushing touchdowns tied for 10th.

Since 2017, Carson's 4.57 yards-per-carry average ranks 15th among running backs with at least 300 carries. He averaged a career-best 4.83 YPC in 2020, rushing for 681 yards and five touchdowns on 141 carries and adding a career-high four receiving TDs.

As a rookie in 2017, Carson beat out Eddie Lacy and incumbent starter Thomas Rawls for the starting job heading into the season, but he missed the final 12 games with leg and ankle injuries. He missed two games in 2018 with a hip injury, then finished the 2019 season on IR after fracturing his hip in Week 16.

In Los Angeles. ... The Chargers used the franchise tag on tight end Hunter Henry last year and didn't sign him to a long-term contract, so they faced the same decision again this year.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the team has reached a different decision this time. The Chargers have informed Henry that they will not be using a tag again this time around.

Henry had 60 catches for 613 yards and four touchdowns for the Chargers during the 2020 season. The 2016 second-round pick missed the 2018 season and has 196 career catches for 2,322 yards, and 21 touchdowns.

That productivity made Henry the top tight end in PFT's ranking of this year's free agents and should make him a popular guy once teams can open conversations with free agents on Monday.

In Tennessee. ... The Titans decided not to franchise tag tight end Jonnu Smith, paving the way for him to test free agency.

Smith would join Henry on the list of talented tight ends to hit free agency, and CBSSports.com's Jordan Dajani believes the athletic Smith could end up being one of the most sought-after when it's all said and done.

Smith, 25, recorded career highs in receptions (41), receiving yards (448) and touchdowns (8) in 2020. According to Dajani, "He's a talented effort player with solid hands, and an athlete capable of highlight-reel catches."

Smith also showed off his versatility by playing a bit of running back for the Titans, rushing six times for a total of 82 yards and a touchdown during the past two seasons.

The Titans also announced the signing of wide receiver Marcus Johnson.

Check the News and Views section of the sight for more minute-by-minute roster moves and developments and keep an eye here in the Headline News section for more in-depth looks at the biggest stories as free agency unfolds.