"A long-term deal with Jaguars tight end Marcedes Lewis is unlikely to be reached by Thursday and if it isn't the Jaguars are expected to put the franchise tag on the Pro Bowl tight end by Thursday's deadline.

If the Jaguars do tag Lewis, he will be locked in for the following season, but they will continue trying to negotiate a long-term deal until the end of March 3. That's when the collective bargaining agreement expires and all negotiations will halt. The franchising period began on Feb. 10.

But according to a source the Jaguars are not especially optimistic a deal will get done, and a franchise tag would be insurance.

There's some dispute about the use of the designation as the NFL Players Association says the franchise tag is worthless this year with the CBA expiring. According to their position, the current deal does not apply to the 2011 season.

Although the NFL Players Association has not released franchise numbers for next season, the franchise tag for a tight end in the 2011 season is expected to be around $7.3 million for the one-year deal. The number is the average of the contracts of the top five players at the position.

Although there was some speculation Lewis wanted to test the open market, Lewis has told me he wants a long-term deal with the Jaguars.

"I feel like I've been a big piece to building where we want to go," he told me two weeks ago. "I love who I work with, I love the coaches, I love the environment. ... Ultimately I want to be able to be in a good situation and be happy and I want it to be in Jacksonville.""