You can, but in this situation it would be almost impossible to reach a long-term deal with him if he is tagged. Hughes is looking at a 5-year deal that will probably give him around $25M guaranteed. The franchise tag value for DE's this year is expected to be just under $15M. A tag would get him ~60% of the expected guaranteed money he would command in a 5-year deal. There would be very little incentive for him to keep negotiations open at that point. Take your guaranteed $15M, play another year next to 3 Pro Bowlers, and start again from square one next year. This is a situation where if he was tagged, his agent would pop a bottle of champagne and take a vacation in the tropics.