Feb 2, 2026; San Francisco, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys receiver George Pickens throughout NFC apply on the NFL Flag Fieldhouse at Moscone Middle South Constructing. Obligatory Credit score: Kirby Lee-Imagn Pictures The window for NFL groups to make the most of the franchise and transition tag opens Tuesday.
The transaction in place for groups to retain their very own free brokers will be utilized by way of March 3 at 4 p.m. ET.
There’s hardly ever a race to use the tag as common managers and brokers use the formal assembly settings across the NFL Scouting Mix to alternate expectations and, in lots of circumstances, discover a center floor to maneuver ahead in negotiations towards a long-term deal.
In some circumstances, that will not occur.
Dallas Cowboys broad receiver George Pickens is projected to be tagged, however Seahawks common supervisor John Schneider appears much less possible to make use of Seattle’s to maintain operating again Kenneth Walker III.
A non-exclusive franchise tag ensures a participant a one-year wage calculated on the common of the highest 5 salaries over the previous 5 seasons at that participant’s place. As a result of it’s “non-exclusive,” a participant can nonetheless meet with and negotiate a deal with every other staff. Nonetheless, the unique staff holds refusal rights and might match incoming provides to that participant or select to obtain two first-round picks as compensation from the suitor.
There’s an “unique” franchise tag. The variations are in wage — the highest 5 salaries on the participant’s place for the present 12 months or 120 % of the participant’s previous-year wage — and prohibited negotiations with different groups.
Walker, MVP of Tremendous Bowl LX, may turn out to be a candidate for the transition tag. The one-year tender supply for the typical of the highest 10 salaries on the place — provides the present staff some semblance of leverage with refusal rights. A staff can match incoming provides to the tagged participant whereas decreasing the preliminary potential phrases of the one-year contract. Nonetheless, this tag prevents the membership from receiving draft compensation if it elects to not match one other staff’s supply.
Franchise tag values fluctuate vastly by place worth and market, but additionally keep in mind the annual salary-cap adjustment. The NFL wage cap has not formally been set.
Two gamers have been tagged in 2025 and wound up signing long-term contracts earlier than the NFL’s July 15 deadline to switch the franchise tag tender with a multi-year deal.
Bengals broad receiver Tee Higgins (4 years, $115 million) and Chiefs guard Trey Smith (4 years, $94 million) have been locked up by the groups that drafted them earlier than the 2025 season started.
Seattle has a projected $63 million in cap area however Schneider was aware of coming negotiations with future free brokers when discussing spending previous to Tremendous Bowl LX.
The Cowboys acquired Pickens from the Pittsburgh Steelers previous to the ultimate 12 months of his four-year, $6.7 million rookie contract. Pickens is projected to rake in roughly $28 million in 2026 primarily based on franchise tag projections.
That is about double the going fee for franchise-tagging a operating again. Primarily based on 2025 salaries, the operating again non-exclusive tag would pay within the neighborhood of $14.1 million on a one-year deal.
–Area Degree Media
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