Key takeaways
- Choose the tag by what you can tolerate rival clubs doing: the non-exclusive tag invites offer sheets you can match or swap for two first-round picks, the exclusive tag closes the market, and the transition tag keeps only a right to match.
- Compare the position formula with 120 percent of the player's prior-year salary; the higher figure is the price, so a well-paid player gets little discount from the formula.
- Budget for escalation, because each repeat tag starts at 120 percent of the previous one and a third tag can jump to the highest position average or 144 percent.
- Treat the mid-July extension deadline (July 15 in 2026) as the real deadline for a long-term deal, because after it a tagged player can only play on a one-year contract.
The franchise tag lets an NFL club keep one player who would otherwise become an unrestricted free agent. Instead of letting him reach the open market, the club "tenders" him a one-year contract at a salary set by formula, and he cannot simply leave for the best offer. There are three versions — the non-exclusive franchise tag, the exclusive franchise tag and the transition tag — and the difference between them is almost entirely about what other clubs are allowed to do.
Each club gets one franchise or transition designation a season. For 2026, the league's operations site gives the window as February 17 to 4 p.m. ET on March 3, which matches the agreement's formula: from the 22nd day before the new league year to the eighth day before it.
The three tags side by side
| Non-exclusive franchise | Exclusive franchise | Transition | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can other clubs negotiate? | Yes, through an offer sheet | No | Yes, through an offer sheet |
| If he signs an offer sheet | Original club has five days to match | Not possible | Original club has five days to match |
| If the original club does not match | It receives two first-round picks | — | It receives no draft compensation |
| One-year salary | Five-year cap-percentage average of the position's top-five salaries, or 120% of his prior-year salary | This year's top-five average at the position, or the non-exclusive figure | Five-year cap-percentage average of the position's top-ten salaries, or 120% of his prior-year salary |
| Guaranteed once signed? | Yes — skill, injury and cap | Yes | Yes |
The table comes from Article 10 of the 2020 collective bargaining agreement, with the matching window and compensation also stated on the league's franchise-tag page. Two consequences are worth drawing out.
The non-exclusive tag is not a weaker version of the exclusive one so much as a priced exit. A rival club can take the player, but only by paying him and giving up two first-round picks, and the original club can still match.
The transition tag is the opposite trade-off: a lower salary for a weaker hold. Because the formula averages ten salaries instead of five, the figure is lower, but a club that declines to match gets nothing back.
How the one-year salary is worked out
Three definitions do all the work.
Prior Year Salary. Base salary, roster and reporting bonuses, the prorated share of any signing bonus and other payments for playing in the previous league year — but not performance bonuses other than roster and reporting bonuses.
Position. The agreement groups players into eleven categories — quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, offensive line, defensive end, interior defensive line, linebacker, cornerback, safety, and kicker/punter — and tags a player at the one where he "participated in the most plays during the prior League Year". Where a hybrid player lined up most often can move his tag figure.
Cap Percentage Average. Add up the franchise-tag figures at the position for the previous five league years, divide by the sum of the five salary caps, and multiply by the coming season's cap. The method ties the tag to the cap, which for 2026 is $301.2 million according to the league's salary-cap page, up $22 million on 2025. (The league's franchise-tag page still carries an older line saying tag salaries would fall with a lower 2026 cap; the cap page's figures are the ones used here.)
A worked example, with invented figures throughout. Suppose a position's last five tag figures add up to $75 million while the last five caps add up to $1.25 billion. That is 6 percent. With a hypothetical $300 million cap, the non-exclusive figure is $18 million.
| Player (hypothetical) | Prior-year salary | 120% of it | Position figure | Tender |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | $10m | $12m | $18m | $18m |
| B | $16m | $19.2m | $18m | $19.2m |
Player A is cheap to tag relative to his old contract; Player B is not, because the 120 percent floor overtakes the formula. The exclusive version cannot be priced in advance at all, since it uses the current year's five largest salaries "as of the end of the Restricted Free Agent Signing Period" — although it can never come in below the non-exclusive figure.
Why the second and third tags cost more
The 120 percent floor quietly does most of the work. A tagged player's prior-year salary is his tag salary, so tagging him a second time costs at least 120 percent of the first — a hypothetical $18 million tag becomes at least $21.6 million.
A third tag changes the comparison entirely. The agreement sets it at the greatest of:
- the average of the five largest prior-year salaries at whichever position has the highest such average;
- 120 percent of the average of the five largest at the player's own position; or
- 144 percent of his prior-year salary.
The agreement's own illustration uses a kicker, whose third tag would be measured against quarterback salaries. In our example, 144 percent of $21.6 million is roughly $31.1 million before the first option is even considered. The design makes repeated one-year tags progressively less attractive than a long-term contract.
The calendar after a tag
- Withdrawal. A club can withdraw the tender at any time before the player signs it, but the player then becomes an unrestricted free agent immediately, free to sign anywhere with no compensation owed.
- Long-term deal deadline. The club has until 4 p.m. New York time on July 15 (moved to the following Monday if it falls on a weekend) to sign him to a multi-year contract. After that, he can sign only a one-year deal for the season, and it cannot be extended until after the club's last regular-season game.
- Playing deadline. If he has not signed by 4 p.m. on the Tuesday after the tenth week of the regular season, he cannot play in the league that season, absent a showing of extreme hardship to the impartial arbitrator.
- Trades. The league's page notes that a tagged player must sign his tender before he can be traded.
The guarantee is the player's side of the bargain. Once he signs, the tender is fully guaranteed against termination for lack of skill, for injury, or to create cap room. What it does not give him is a second year.
Choosing a tag: a decision guide
From a club's point of view, the right tag follows from a few questions, asked in order.
| The club's question | What it points to |
|---|---|
| Would two first-round picks be acceptable compensation if a rival paid him? | Non-exclusive franchise tag: match, or take the picks |
| Is there any offer the club could not match, or a player it cannot risk losing? | Exclusive franchise tag, at the highest price |
| Does the club only want the right to match, and can it live with losing him for nothing? | Transition tag, at a lower salary |
| Is his prior-year salary already above the position figure? | Expect the 120% floor to set the price; the tag is no longer a discount |
| Has he been tagged before? | Price the escalation first — a third tag is designed to be prohibitive |
| Is a long-term deal close? | Tag to hold his rights, and treat the mid-July date as the real deadline |
None of these is a prediction about how any real negotiation will go. They are the levers the agreement provides, and the escalators show why both sides have a reason to reach a long-term deal before the July deadline: every year of waiting gets more expensive. For the market the tag is designed to bypass, free agency explained covers restricted and unrestricted free agency in general, and salary cap basics covers why a single large salary constrains everything else on a roster.
Seeing it from the player's side
In Football Career Sim 2026, contracts, trades and free agency sit around a single quarterback's career in a league where every team and player is fictional. Nothing in this article describes how the game values or structures its contracts; what carries across is the player's view of the trade-off above — one guaranteed year now, or the long-term security of a negotiated deal. Our guide to playing a quarterback career covers the earlier stages, from the draft to winning the job.
If you would rather sit on the other side of the table, the football draft and GM guide covers roster building under a budget. The rest of the sports career and GM library and our American football hub collect related reading.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
What is the franchise tag in the NFL?
What is the difference between the franchise tag and the transition tag?
How is the franchise tag salary calculated?
Can a franchise-tagged player sign with another team?
What happens if a team tags the same player three times?
Sources
- 2020 NFL-NFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement (executed copy), Article 10: Franchise and Transition Players (opens in a new tab)National Football League and NFL Players Association (hosted by the NFLPA) — accessed
- Franchise Tags (opens in a new tab)NFL Football Operations — accessed
- NFL Salary Cap (opens in a new tab)NFL Football Operations — accessed
League, team and athlete names appear here only to identify the rules, records and history being discussed. Reign Creative LLC's sports games are not affiliated with, endorsed by or licensed by any league, team, players' association or athlete, and all names and marks belong to their owners.
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