There's a long line of players in the NFL who claim that it is a personal offense when their teams place the franchise tag on them.
These players are big fat babies.
The players agreed to the franchise tag for the owners, as a compromise. The players take advantage of everything available to them under the contract; why shouldn't the owners do the same?
Stop crying. Stop whining. Sure, you don't like it, but so what? Grow up. Those are the rules that you agreed to.