NFL Franchise Tag Explained and Why Players Hate It

Every February your favorite team's best free agent suddenly is not a free agent anymore, and half the fan base is relieved while the player's agent goes silent. The NFL franchise tag is the reason, and it is one of the most misunderstood tools in the league's contract system.

I have covered a lot of tag standoffs over the years, and the same questions come up every spring. What does the tag pay? Can another team still sign the player? Why do players treat it like an insult when it pays them more than most of their teammates? Here is the plain version.

The NFL franchise tag explained in one paragraph

The franchise tag lets a team keep one player who would otherwise become an unrestricted free agent, in exchange for a guaranteed one-year salary set by a formula in the collective bargaining agreement. Each team can use one franchise tag or one transition tag per year, not both. The tag window opens about two weeks before free agency starts in March and closes the day before the new league year begins.

Once tagged, the player can sign the one-year tender, sit out and negotiate, or keep working toward a long-term deal with the team. The deadline for a long-term deal is in mid-July. Miss it, and the player can only sign the one-year tag for that season.

Exclusive, non-exclusive and transition tags

There are actually three versions, and they behave very differently.

Tag	Salary	Can other teams talk to the player?	Compensation if he leaves
Exclusive franchise	Average of top 5 salaries at the position for the current year, or 120 percent of his previous salary, whichever is higher	No	Not applicable
Non-exclusive franchise	Based on the top 5 cap numbers at the position over the past five years, or 120 percent of his previous salary	Yes, can sign an offer sheet	Two first-round picks
Transition	Based on the top 10 at the position, or 120 percent of his previous salary	Yes, can sign an offer sheet	None, just the right to match

The non-exclusive tag is the one you see most. In theory, a rival team can sign the player to an offer sheet. The original team then has five days to match it. If they decline, they collect two first-round picks. In practice, that price is so steep that offer sheets on franchise-tagged players almost never happen.

How the tag price climbs every year

The real teeth of the system are in the repeat tags. A team can tag the same player more than once, but it gets expensive fast:

First tag: the position number, or 120 percent of his prior salary, whichever is higher.
Second consecutive tag: 120 percent of his previous tag salary.
Third consecutive tag: 144 percent of his previous salary, or the quarterback tag number, whichever is higher.

That third-tag rule is why you almost never see one. A tagged linebacker would get paid like a starting quarterback. Kirk Cousins is the classic example. Washington tagged him in 2016 and 2017, earning him about 20 million dollars and then about 24 million. A third tag would have cost roughly 34 million, so Washington let him walk, and he signed a fully guaranteed deal with Minnesota.

The salary is fully guaranteed once the player signs the tender, and the whole amount counts against the cap that season. That cap hit is part of why front offices care so much about whether they can turn the tag into a longer deal. If you want a refresher on how unspent guarantees haunt a team later, see our breakdown of NFL dead money without the cap jargon.

Why players hate the franchise tag

A one-year tag can be worth 15 to 30 million dollars depending on the position. So why do players and agents fight it?

Because the money they lose is not this year's money. It is the guaranteed money in years two, three and four of the long-term deal they would have gotten on the open market. A running back who gets hurt in his tag year can lose 30 or 40 million in future guarantees in one play.

Le'Veon Bell is the cautionary tale. Pittsburgh tagged him in 2017 and again in 2018. He refused to sign the second tag and sat out the entire 2018 season, giving up about 14.5 million dollars. He then signed a four-year deal with the Jets worth up to 52.5 million, played poorly, and was released within two seasons. Holding out protected his body but not his market.

The position formula also hurts certain players. Running backs and safeties have lower tag numbers because their position's top salaries are lower, which feeds into the argument that the modern NFL running back is undervalued again.

The tag is not always a bad sign for the player

Most fan commentary frames the tag as a team bullying a player. That view misses how often it works as a bridge.

A tag can buy both sides time. Dak Prescott played the 2020 season on a 31.4 million dollar tag, broke his ankle in October, and still signed a four-year deal worth about 160 million the following March, because Dallas had kept negotiating the whole way. The tag stopped him from walking, but it also set a floor. When the team tagged him again in 2021 as a formality, the new number became leverage for him, not them.

The honest answer is that the tag punishes players at positions that age quickly and rewards players at positions where a second tag becomes ruinously expensive. Quarterbacks, edge rushers and left tackles usually come out fine. Running backs rarely do.

Key dates to watch every year

Late February: the tag window opens, about two weeks before free agency.
Early March: the tag deadline, one day before the new league year.
Mid-March: free agency opens. Offer sheets on non-exclusive tagged players are possible from here.
Mid-July: the long-term deal deadline. After this, the player can only play on the one-year tag.

A tagged player who has not signed his tender is not under contract, so he can skip offseason workouts and even training camp without being fined. That is why tag holdouts usually end around Week 1, when the game checks start.

Frequently asked questions

How many times can a player be franchise tagged?

There is no hard limit, but each consecutive tag gets more expensive. The second tag pays 120 percent of the previous salary and the third pays 144 percent or the quarterback tag figure. Because of that cost, players are rarely tagged three years running.

Can a team trade a franchise-tagged player?

Yes, but only after the player signs the tender. This is called a tag and trade. The receiving team usually agrees to a long-term contract with the player as part of the deal.

What happens if a franchise-tagged player does not sign?

He cannot play for any team that season until he signs. He also earns no salary while he sits out. If he misses the whole year, the team can tag him again the following spring.