The “tag” means that other teams can make an offer for him, but the Eagles have a week to match those offers. If he signs with the birds, it’ll be in the salary range of the top tight ends in the league, around $4.522 mil for the year.

Eagles throw franchise tag on L.J. Smith: “Tight end L.J. Smith, who was scheduled to become a free agent at the end of the month, was given the franchise tag by the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday.

The deal was first reported by FOXSports.com’s Jay Glazer, who reported that Smith will earn $4.522 million on a one-year deal.”

(Via FOXSports.com News for NFL.)