Before they had to designate their kicker as their franchise player, the Tennessee Titans reached agreement with Rob Bironas on a four-year, $12 million deal.

Had the deal not been agreed to, Tennessee could have — and likely would have — slapped Bironas with the $2.48 million franchise tag. But the two sides continued days of negotiations that culminated Wednesday in a deal that makes Bironas one of the game’s highest-paid kickers.

This offseason is turning out to be quite the boom period for kickers and punters.

Punter Michael Koenen already signed his $2.48 million franchise tender with the Atlanta Falcons, and kicker Shayne Graham officially was designated as the Cincinnati Bengals’ franchise player Wednesday.

Thursday is the deadline for teams to designate franchise players, and cornerbacks could be the hot position. The Oakland Raiders are expected to tag Nnamdi Asomugha, and the Indianapolis Colts could tag Kelvin Hayden.

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