Colts signed franchise player P Pat McAfee to a one-year, $2.97 million contract.

Colts assigned the franchise tag to P Pat McAfee.

Get excited. The franchise tag for punters/kickers checks in at $2.97 million this season. Coach Chuck Pagano called locking McAfee up a "major priority" on Thursday. The four-year veteran was fifth in gross punting average last season.

Colts coach Chuck Pagano called free agent P Pat McAfee a "major priority."

"Obviously, we've reached out and are working to get Pat re-signed," Pagano said. "We saw what he did for us last year. He's a great weapon." McAfee set career-highs by landing 26 punts inside the 20-yard line and 11 inside the 10-yard line last season. He also ranked fifth in the league in gross punting average.

The Indianapolis Star considers free agent P Pat McAfee a candidate for the Colts' franchise tag.

Colts beat writer Mike Chappelle would be "stunned" if McAfee got away after finishing fifth in the NFL in gross punting average (48.2) in 2012, while ranking a rock-solid 15th in net (40.3). McAfee will turn 26 years old this May.

Impending free agent P Pat McAfee "hopes to be a Colt forever."

McAfee set a Colts' franchise net punting record of 46.6 yards in 2011, but he wasn't as good in 2012, finishing No. 15 in the league with a 40.3 mark. He also finished tied for sixth in the league with his 45 touchbacks on kickoffs.

Pat McAfee broke the Colts' franchise record for net punting (46.6) in 2011 despite playing the final nine weeks with a torn meniscus in his kicking knee.

A rare bright spot in the Colts' 2-14 season, McAfee set the record on a massive sample size (88 attempts) because Indianapolis' inept offense punted so much. McAfee is scheduled to have the meniscus surgically repaired next Monday.