If Matt Flynn is going to get hit with the franchise tag and subsequently traded away, today is the day it's going to happen. Or at the least the framework for a deal would happen today.

Monday at 3 p.m. Central time is the deadline for all NFL teams to place either franchise or transition tags on a player. Many have already done so and more may happen before the day is done.

A trade can't technically be executed until the first day of the league year on Mar. 13.

The only way the Packers would use the franchise tag on Flynn is if A) they can find a partner willing to compensate the Packers more than the value of a third round pick in next year's Draft and B) Flynn agrees to a new, less costly, contract.

All three parties have to agree to the terms, which is no easy task. And if no deal happens, the Packers will likely receive a third round compensatory draft choice in 2013 as a result of free agent losses anyway.

It would behoove general manager Ted Thompson to make every attempt to make sure he can receive more for Flynn, but it's not his choice and his choice alone.

There's even a less likely scenario in which the Packers could place the transition tag on center Scott Wells as a way to spur talks of a reasonable long-term contract, but the risks of doing so may prohibit it from happening, which is paying Wells roughly $8.5 million for one year, a salary that could prevent the Packers from signing or extending other contracts.

Although the likelihood of the Packers using one of their tags is slim, it's not out of the question. But the countdown is on and the clock is ticking.