What Is a Franchise Tag in the NFL? How the Tag Works in 2026

The franchise tag is a tool that lets an NFL team stop one player whose contract is expiring from becoming an unrestricted free agent, by offering him a fully guaranteed one-year contract at a salary set by a formula. Each team can use one franchise tag or one transition tag per year, and the price is tied to what the highest-paid players at the same position earn, or to a raise on the player's own previous salary, whichever is higher.

The rules live in Article 10 of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA, the labor contract between the league and the players' union) that took effect in 2020. This guide explains the three kinds of tags, how the salary is calculated with worked examples, the 2026 tag values, the key dates on the calendar, what happens when a team tags the same player two or three years in a row, and what tagged players actually do next.

Why the franchise tag exists

When an NFL player's contract runs out and he has enough seasons in the league, he usually becomes an unrestricted free agent. That means he can sign with any of the 32 teams once the new league year begins in March. Free agency is good for players, who get a market for their services, and it can be painful for teams, who may lose a star they drafted and developed.

The tag is the compromise between those interests. A team gets to hold on to one important player for another season. In return, it has to pay him a salary near the top of the market for his position, and that salary is guaranteed once he signs. Teams often use the tag as a placeholder while they keep negotiating a longer contract, and the CBA gives them a deadline to finish that job.

The tag only matters in the offseason calendar, but its effects run through the whole 17-game regular season (see how many games are in an NFL season for how that schedule works). A player who plays on the tag is effectively auditioning for his next contract every week.

The three tags: exclusive, non-exclusive and transition

"Franchise tag" is used loosely for three different designations. They differ in two ways: how much the player is paid, and whether other teams are allowed to make him an offer.

Non-exclusive franchise tag

This is the most common version. The player can negotiate with other teams and sign an offer sheet, which is a contract offer from a new club. His current team then has the right to match the offer and keep him. If it chooses not to match, the CBA says it receives two first-round draft picks from the team that signed him as compensation.

That price is the reason offer sheets for non-exclusive tagged players are rare. Few teams want to give up two first-round picks on top of a large new contract.

Exclusive franchise tag

Under the exclusive tag, the player can negotiate and sign only with his current team. No offer sheets are possible. The salary is at least as high as the non-exclusive figure and often higher, because it is based on the current year's top contracts rather than on past tags. NFL.com notes that few players receive it, mostly quarterbacks. In 2026, NFL.com's tag tracker listed no exclusive tags at all.

Transition tag

The transition tag is the cheaper option. The salary is based on the top 10 salaries at the position instead of the top five. Other teams can make offers, and the current team has a right of first refusal: the CBA gives it five days after receiving an offer sheet to match. If it does not match, the player leaves and the team gets no draft picks in return. A team uses the transition tag instead of a franchise tag, not in addition to it, under the general one-designation-per-year rule.

How the tag salary is calculated

News reports often describe the franchise tag as "the average of the top five salaries at the position or 120% of the player's previous salary, whichever is greater." That is a handy summary, but the actual CBA formula for the non-exclusive tag is a little different. Under Article 10, Section 2, the non-exclusive tender is a one-year contract for the greater of:

• The Cap Percentage Average for the position. To get it, add up the franchise tag amounts at that position for the five previous league years, divide by the sum of the salary caps for those same five years, and multiply the result by the salary cap for the coming year.
• 120% of the player's prior-year salary.

The first part ties the tag to the history of tags at the position as a share of the cap, so tag values move roughly in line with the salary cap. The second part protects a player who was already paid well; the tag can never be less than a 20% raise on his previous year.

The exclusive tag uses a different first prong: the average of the five largest salaries at the position for the current year, measured as of the end of the restricted free agent signing period in the spring, or the non-exclusive amount, whichever is greater. The transition tag works like the non-exclusive tag but uses the 10 largest salaries at the position instead of five, again with 120% of the prior-year salary as the floor.

Positions are grouped into broad categories for these calculations. The NFL publishes one figure for all offensive linemen, for example, and a single figure covering both kickers and punters.

A worked example

Here is a hypothetical position, with round numbers to keep the arithmetic clean. Suppose the franchise tags at that position over the past five league years added up to $100 million, and the salary caps for those five years added up to $1.25 billion ($230 million + $240 million + $250 million + $260 million + $270 million).

• Cap percentage: $100 million / $1,250 million = 8%.
• Coming year's cap: $301.2 million (the real 2026 figure).
• Cap Percentage Average: 8% x $301.2 million = $24.096 million.

Now take two hypothetical players at that position. Player A earned $15 million last season, so 120% of his salary is $18 million. The tag is the greater of $24.096 million and $18 million, so he gets $24.096 million. Player B earned $21 million last season, so 120% is $25.2 million. That beats the formula figure, so his tag is $25.2 million. Same position, same year, different price.

2026 franchise and transition tag values

The NFL set the 2026 salary cap at $301.2 million and released the tag amounts at the same time, on February 27, 2026. These are the non-exclusive franchise and transition figures as reported by NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk from the league's numbers:

• Quarterback: franchise $43.895 million, transition $37.833 million
• Running back: franchise $14.293 million, transition $11.323 million
• Wide receiver: franchise $27.298 million, transition $23.852 million
• Tight end: franchise $15.045 million, transition $12.687 million
• Offensive line: franchise $25.773 million, transition $23.392 million
• Defensive end: franchise $24.434 million, transition $21.512 million
• Defensive tackle: franchise $27.127 million, transition $22.521 million
• Linebacker: franchise $26.865 million, transition $21.925 million
• Cornerback: franchise $21.161 million, transition $18.119 million
• Safety: franchise $20.149 million, transition $16.012 million
• Kicker/punter: franchise $6.649 million, transition $6.005 million

The spread says a lot about the modern league. A franchise-tagged quarterback costs about three times as much as a tagged running back ($43.895 million / $14.293 million is roughly 3.07). Because the formula follows each position's own market, the tag pays a top player at a lower-paid position far less than a top player at a premium one.

The calendar: tag window and the July 15 deadline

The CBA ties the tag dates to the start of the new league year. Teams can designate a franchise or transition player starting 22 days before the league year begins, and the window closes at 4 p.m. New York time on the eighth day before it. For 2026, that worked out to these dates, as listed on NFL club calendars:

• February 17, 2026: tag window opens.
• March 3, 2026, 4 p.m. ET: deadline to apply a franchise or transition tag.
• March 11, 2026, 4 p.m. ET: new league year begins, contracts expire, and free agency opens.
• July 15, 2026, 4 p.m. ET: deadline for a team to sign its franchise player to a multiyear contract or extension.

The July 15 date comes from Article 10, Section 2(k) of the CBA. After it passes, the player can sign only a one-year contract with his team for that season, and that contract cannot be extended until after the team's last regular-season game. In practice that means a tagged player who has not agreed to a long-term deal by mid-July plays the season on the tag and talks resume the following January at the earliest.

Transition players have a separate timeline. Under Article 10, Section 3, a transition player can negotiate with other clubs from the start of the league year through July 22.

Tagging the same player again: 120% and 144%

A team can tag the same player more than once, but each extra year gets more expensive.

The second tag follows the normal non-exclusive formula. Because the player's prior-year salary is now last year's tag, the 120% prong almost always wins, so a second tag is effectively a 20% raise on the first one.

The third tag has its own rule in Article 10, Section 2(b). The team is deemed to have offered a one-year contract for the greatest of three amounts:

• The average of the five largest prior-year salaries at the position with the highest such average (in practice, quarterback).
• 120% of the average of the five largest prior-year salaries at the player's own position.
• 144% of the player's prior-year salary.

A third tag is also automatically exclusive, so no other team can negotiate with the player. The CBA allows a transition tag instead of a third franchise tag.

A real case shows how quickly this adds up. Dallas used the non-exclusive tag on wide receiver George Pickens in 2026 at $27.298 million. If the Cowboys tag him again in 2027, the 120% prong gives $27.298 million x 1.2 = about $32.76 million, matching the roughly $32.8 million figure the team's own website cited. A hypothetical third tag in 2028 would be at least $32.76 million x 1.44 = about $47.17 million, or the top quarterback average if that is higher. At that point a wide receiver would be paid like a franchise quarterback, which is why third tags are almost never used.

What tagged players actually do: the 2026 cases

Once tagged, a player has three broad paths. He can sign the one-year tender, which makes the salary fully guaranteed. He can negotiate a long-term deal with his team before July 15. Or, until he signs, he can stay away from voluntary team activities, since an unsigned player is not under contract. Some players have used that leverage in past years to push for a long-term deal.

The 2026 tag class shows all of these outcomes. According to NFL.com's tracker, four players were tagged before the March 3 deadline, and Pro Football Talk and DallasCowboys.com reported how each case ended:

• Kyle Pitts, tight end, Atlanta: non-exclusive franchise tag ($15.045 million), later replaced by a three-year, $54 million contract.
• Breece Hall, running back, New York Jets: non-exclusive franchise tag ($14.293 million), later replaced by a three-year, $43.5 million contract.
• Daniel Jones, quarterback, Indianapolis: transition tag ($37.833 million), followed by a two-year, $88 million contract in March.
• George Pickens, wide receiver, Dallas: non-exclusive franchise tag ($27.298 million), signed in late April. The July 15 deadline passed without an extension, so he is playing the 2026 season on the one-year, fully guaranteed tag.

That pattern is typical. The tag often works as a bridge to a long-term contract rather than as the final answer. For fans who play fantasy, a tagged player usually means a stable role for the season, which is useful context during a fantasy football draft.

Who wins and who loses with the tag

From the team's side, the tag buys time and control. It keeps a key player for a year, prevents a bidding war in free agency, and gives the front office until mid-July to agree on a longer deal. The cost is cap space: the entire tag salary counts against the cap for that season, and because there is no signing bonus to spread out, it can be harder to fit than a long-term contract with the same average value.

From the player's side, the tag means a large guaranteed salary, often one of the highest at his position. The downsides are security and freedom. A one-year deal offers no protection beyond that season if he suffers a serious injury, and he loses the chance to choose his team on the open market. Players at lower-paid positions also feel the formula is unfair, since the tag can be well below what a top player at a premium position earns.

The broader effect is on the free-agent market. Because the best players with expiring contracts are often tagged or re-signed, the pool that reaches free agency each March tends to be thinner at the very top than casual fans expect.

Quick reference: franchise tag rules

Keep these points handy for the next offseason:

• One franchise tag or one transition tag per team per league year.
• Non-exclusive tag: greater of the Cap Percentage Average for the position or 120% of prior-year salary; other teams can make offers; two first-round picks if the team does not match.
• Exclusive tag: greater of the current top-five average at the position or the non-exclusive amount; no outside offers.
• Transition tag: based on the top 10 salaries, 120% floor; team can match within five days; no compensation if it does not.
• 2026 dates: window February 17 to March 3 (4 p.m. ET), league year March 11, long-term deal deadline July 15 (4 p.m. ET).
• After July 15: one-year contract only, no extension until after the team's last regular-season game.
• Second tag: effectively 120% of the first. Third tag: greatest of the top quarterback average, 120% of the position average, or 144% of prior-year salary, and automatically exclusive.
• 2026 franchise tag range: $6.649 million (kicker/punter) to $43.895 million (quarterback).