The Steelers are planning to use their franchise tag on NT Casey Hampton and their transition tag on K Jeff Reed, barring a late breakthrough in contract negotiations, according to a league source.

The Steelers have been negotiating with both players, but they haven’t made significant progress ahead of Thursday’s deadline to apply tags to players.

Reed is seeking a deal similar to what Sebastian Janikowski got from the Raiders — with $9 million guaranteed — and Hampton is one of four nose tackles very likely to be tagged by Thursday. On Monday, the Patriots placed the franchise tag on Vince Wilfork, and the 49ers did the same to Aubrayo Franklin on Wednesday. Both players were given the non-exclusive franchise tag, meaning they can be signed by another team, which would have to exchange two first-round draft picks in return.

This is the first year that teams can apply an extra tag, per the uncapped year. At this point, Pittsburgh appears to be the only team likely to use multiple tags.

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