It's hilarious that the only impatient people here are the fans. Without doing a lot of research, I don't remember any articles that said they were close; everything seemed to state that talks were continuing, but they weren't really all that close to a deal, and more importantly, that nobody was concerned.
Lee Evans is not in a hurry, his stock continues to rise, the FO knows he wants to stay here, and he's a reasonable dude. There's no reason whatsoever to even mention the franchise tag to him, as negotiations are continuing and progressing.