The NFL franchise tag lets a team keep one pending free agent for a year on a guaranteed one-year tender. For 2026, with the salary cap set at $301.2 million, the non-exclusive franchise tag was worth $43.895 million for quarterbacks, $27.298 million for wide receivers and $14.293 million for running backs, per figures the league released on Feb. 27. Teams had from Feb. 17 to March 3 to apply a tag and until July 15 to sign tagged players to long-term deals. Restricted free agents, players with three accrued seasons, are handled separately through tenders that ranged in 2026 from $3.547 million to $8.107 million, according to NFL Football Operations.
Updated for the 2026 season.
How does the NFL franchise tag work?
Article 10 of the 2020 collective bargaining agreement allows each club to designate one player who would otherwise become an unrestricted free agent as its Franchise Player each season. Per NFL Football Operations, a club applies either a franchise tag or a transition tag to one player in a given year. The designation comes with a required tender: a one-year contract the team must offer the player at no less than a set amount.
Once the player signs his tender, the CBA makes the contract fully guaranteed against release for lack of skill, for an injury suffered while playing, or to create salary-cap room. Until he signs, the team can withdraw the tender at any time, but the player then becomes an unrestricted free agent immediately, with no compensation owed. NFL Football Operations also notes that a tagged player must sign his tender before he can be traded.
Non-exclusive vs. exclusive franchise tag
The team chooses between two versions when it applies the tag.
- Non-exclusive franchise tag: the most commonly used version, per NFL.com. The player can negotiate with other clubs and sign an offer sheet. His team has five days to match. If it declines, it receives two first-round draft picks from the signing team as compensation.
- Exclusive franchise tag: the player cannot negotiate with any other club. The salary is the greater of the average of the five largest salaries at his position for the current league year (measured at the end of the restricted free agent signing period) or the non-exclusive amount.
How is the franchise tag amount calculated?
The non-exclusive tag uses what the CBA calls the cap percentage average. The league adds up the franchise tag amounts at the position for the previous five league years, divides that by the sum of the salary caps for those five years, and multiplies the result by the new year's salary cap. The player receives the greater of that figure or 120 percent of his own prior-year salary.
Prior-year salary, as defined in Article 10, counts base salary, roster and reporting bonuses, the prorated share of signing bonus and other pay for that season, but not performance incentives. The positions used for the calculation are quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, offensive line, defensive end, interior defensive line, linebacker, cornerback, safety and kicker/punter. A player is slotted at the position where he took the most snaps the prior season.
What happens when a player is tagged more than once?
Repeated tags get expensive quickly. According to NFL Football Operations:
| Tag | Required salary |
|---|---|
| First | Greater of the position's tag amount or 120% of prior-year salary |
| Second | Greater of 120% of the previous tag salary or the current year's position amount |
| Third | Greatest of the quarterback tag amount, 120% of the average of the top five salaries at his position, or 144% of his second tag salary |
Under the third-tag rule, a tight end or safety tagged a third time would be paid at least the quarterback amount.
What are the franchise tag deadlines?
Under Article 10, the designation window opens on the 22nd day before the new league year and closes at 4 p.m. ET on the eighth day before it. In 2026 that window ran from Feb. 17 to 4 p.m. ET on March 3, per NFL Football Operations.
| Date (2026 league year) | What happens |
|---|---|
| Feb. 17 | Teams may begin designating franchise or transition players |
| March 3, 4 p.m. ET | Deadline to apply a franchise or transition tag |
| March 11, 4 p.m. ET | New league year begins; restricted free agent tenders due before this time |
| July 15, 4 p.m. ET | Last day for a team and its franchise player to agree to a multiyear contract |
| July 22 | Last day a transition player may sign an offer sheet with another club (CBA Article 10) |
| Nov. 17, 4 p.m. ET | Unsigned franchise and transition players must sign or sit out the 2026 season |
If no long-term deal is done by July 15, the CBA allows the player to sign only a one-year contract with his team for that season, and that contract cannot be extended until after the club's last regular-season game. NFL.com noted that after the deadline a team can still add money to the one-year tender, but the deal must remain a single season. For the 2027 league year, NFL Football Operations lists the next tag window as Feb. 17 through 4 p.m. ET on March 3, 2027.
How much is the franchise tag in 2026?
The league set the 2026 tag values alongside the $301.2 million salary cap on Feb. 27, 2026. The figures below are the non-exclusive franchise tag and transition tag amounts as published by Over The Cap and reported by Pro Football Talk. Exclusive tag amounts are tied to current-year salaries and are calculated after the restricted free agent signing period, so they are not listed here.
| Position | Franchise tag (non-exclusive) | Transition tag |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterback | $43,895,000 | $37,833,000 |
| Wide receiver | $27,298,000 | $23,852,000 |
| Defensive tackle | $27,127,000 | $22,521,000 |
| Linebacker | $26,865,000 | $21,925,000 |
| Offensive line | $25,773,000 | $23,392,000 |
| Defensive end | $24,434,000 | $21,512,000 |
| Cornerback | $21,161,000 | $18,119,000 |
| Safety | $20,149,000 | $16,012,000 |
| Tight end | $15,045,000 | $12,687,000 |
| Running back | $14,293,000 | $11,323,000 |
| Kicker/punter | $6,649,000 | $6,006,000 |
Who was franchise tagged in 2026?
Four players received a tag before the March 3 deadline, according to NFL.com's tag tracker. Three of the four signed long-term deals before the July 15 deadline, as NFL.com reported on July 15.
| Player | Team | Tag | Tag amount | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniel Jones, QB | Colts | Transition | $37,833,000 | Signed two-year, $88 million contract |
| George Pickens, WR | Cowboys | Non-exclusive franchise | $27,298,000 | No extension; playing 2026 on the tag |
| Kyle Pitts, TE | Falcons | Non-exclusive franchise | $15,045,000 | Signed three-year, $54 million contract |
| Breece Hall, RB | Jets | Non-exclusive franchise | $14,293,000 | Signed three-year, $43.5 million contract |
What is the transition tag?
The transition tag is a cheaper alternative to the franchise tag. Under Article 10, it is a one-year tender worth the greater of the cap percentage average of the ten largest prior-year salaries at the player's position (the franchise tag uses the top five) or 120 percent of the player's own prior-year salary. Like the franchise tender, it is guaranteed for skill, injury and cap once signed and can be withdrawn before the player signs, which makes him an unrestricted free agent.
A transition player can negotiate with any club. If he signs an offer sheet, his team has five days to match it, which gives it a right of first refusal. Unlike the non-exclusive franchise tag, the transition tag brings no draft-pick compensation if the team declines to match. The trade-off is a lower salary in exchange for the risk of losing the player for nothing. Daniel Jones was the only player to receive it in 2026, per NFL.com.
What is a restricted free agent tender?
Under Article 9 of the CBA, a player with three accrued seasons whose contract has expired is a restricted free agent (RFA). He can negotiate and sign with any club, but his original team can make him a qualifying offer, called a tender, that gives it the right to match any offer sheet and, depending on the level, draft-pick compensation if it declines. A player earns an accrued season by being on full-pay status for at least six regular-season games, per NFL Football Operations.
Tenders must be submitted before the start of the league year, which in 2026 was 4 p.m. ET on March 11. If a team withdraws a tender, the player immediately becomes an unrestricted free agent.
2026 RFA tender amounts
The figures below are from NFL Football Operations. For the top three levels, the tender is the greater of the listed amount or 110 percent of the player's prior-year base salary.
| Tender level | 2026 amount | Compensation if team does not match |
|---|---|---|
| First-round | $8,107,000 | A first-round pick |
| Second-round | $5,811,000 | A second-round pick |
| Original-round | $3,674,000 | A pick in the round in which the player was originally drafted |
| Right of first refusal | $3,547,000 | None; the team may only match |
The CBA also limits "upgraded" tenders. If a team gives a first-round tender to a player drafted after the first round, it can receive only a second-round pick for any of its other RFAs who were first-round picks unless they also get the first-round tender. The same rule applies one level down for second-round tenders on players drafted in the third round or later.
A tender worth at least $500,000 more than the first-round amount carries one more protection: if another club's offer sheet limits the original team's ability to franchise-tag the player later, the original team does not have to match that term.
How do offer sheets work?
An RFA who agrees to terms with a new club signs an offer sheet listing the principal terms, mainly salary and guarantees, and gives it to his current team. Under Article 9:
- The original team has five days from receiving the offer sheet to match it, and must decide no later than one day before the draft unless the parties agree otherwise.
- If the team matches, the player signs with his original club on those principal terms. If it does not, the player signs with the new club and the original team receives any draft-pick compensation tied to the tender.
- Draft-pick compensation is due in that year's draft, unless the offer sheet arrives later than two days before the draft, in which case it moves to the following year's draft.
- A player may have only one signed offer sheet outstanding at a time.
- Disputes over whether a term is a "poison pill" designed to keep a team from matching go to expedited arbitration.
The RFA signing period must last at least 35 days and end no later than five days before the draft. NFL Football Operations lists April 23, 2027, as the next deadline for RFAs to sign offer sheets and April 28, 2027, as the deadline for the original club to exercise its right of first refusal. An RFA who has not signed by 4 p.m. ET on the Tuesday after Week 10 cannot play that season; for 2026 that date is Nov. 17.
What is an exclusive rights free agent?
A player with fewer than three accrued seasons and an expired contract is an exclusive rights free agent (ERFA). If his team offers him a one-year contract at the league minimum for his number of credited seasons, he cannot negotiate with any other club, per NFL Football Operations. For how minimum salaries rise by credited season, see the National Football Post guide to NFL rookie contracts and the fifth-year option, which also explains how RFA tender levels feed into the Proven Performance Escalator for second- through seventh-round picks.
Related reference pages
Sources
- NFL-NFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement (2020), Article 10: Franchise and Transition Players — Over The Cap (hosted CBA)
- NFL-NFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement (2020), Article 9: Veteran Free Agency — Over The Cap (hosted CBA)
- Franchise Tags (2026) — NFL Football Operations
- Types of Free Agents (2026 RFA tender amounts) — NFL Football Operations
- Important NFL Dates — NFL Football Operations
- Franchise, Transition, and RFA Tenders (2026) — Over The Cap
- NFL announces franchise tag, transition tag values for 2026 (Feb. 27, 2026) — Pro Football Talk / NBC Sports
- 2026 NFL franchise tag tracker: Latest tag news following March 3 deadline (March 3, 2026) — NFL.com
- July 15 franchise tag deadline will provide no drama in 2026 (July 15, 2026) — NFL.com