When the NFL offseason heats up, one of the biggest storylines to watch every year is which players get the franchise tag. Teams have a two-week window to apply the one-year tender. Players who get the tag have to either sign their tender or negotiate a long-term contract with their teams before the July 15 deadline.
The franchise tag is essentially a one-year contract that guarantees a predetermined salary for players. The salary amount is set by the averaging the top five salaries by position for the previous league year, or if it’s higher, 120 percent of a player’s salary the previous season. So players like quarterbacks and defensive ends will have a much higher tag salary than positions like kicker or punter.
With the salary cap climbing to an estimated $200 million, here are the estimated salaries for each position under the franchise tag in 2020:
Quarterbacks: $26.895 million
Running backs: $12.474 million
Wide receivers: $18.491 million
Tight ends: $11.076 million
Offensive linemen: $16.102 million
Defensive tackles: $15.5 million
Defensive ends: $19.316 million
Linebackers: $16.266 million
Cornerbacks: $16.471 million
Safeties: $12.735 million
Kickers/Punters: $5.297 million
Teams can usually only use the tag once per year, though that might not be the case in 2020. The negotiations between the NFL and NFLPA on a new collective bargaining agreement have already pushed back the franchise tag period from Feb. 27 to March 12. If a new CBA isn’t reached before then, teams can use one of each:
The NFL plans to open the franchise and transition tag window Thursday, and under rules of the Final League Year, teams can use both. However, if/when a new CBA is ratified, its full terms take effect immediately, so the NFLPA would expect any team that used 2 tags to vacate 1.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 26, 2020
There are three different types of tags a team can assign.
Types of NFL franchise tags
Exclusive
Just what the name implies. The player is locked into his team and cannot negotiate with any other team during the free agency period.
Non-exclusive
The player is allowed to negotiate with other teams, but if a competing team makes a free agent offer, the original team has the right to match it. If they don’t match the offer, they get two first-round picks in compensation. In other words, this is basically a convoluted trade scenario.
Transition tag
Similar to the non-exclusive tag, except the player gets paid an average of the top 10 salaries at his position, rather than top five. Transition-tagged players are free to negotiate with other teams, but unlike non-exclusive players, the original team gets no compensation if it fails to match an offer.
Teams can use both the franchise and transition tag in 2020 thanks to the pending expiration of the league’s collective bargaining agreement. However, if a new agreement is signed before the new NFL year officially begins on March 18, teams will be only be allowed to use either the franchise or the transition tag this spring.
Once a player gets tagged, that’s when the real drama begins. Both sides have until mid-July to negotiate a long-term contract. This ramps up the sense of urgency. Teams don’t want to use the tag because it ties up a huge chunk of their salary cap for just one year. The players don’t like it because they don’t have any financial security beyond that one year, and have almost no leverage outside of threatening to hold out. If they fail to agree to a long-term deal before the deadline, the player is set for his one-year contract.
Fortunately for most players, they’re often able to secure a new contract with their team and the franchise tag doesn’t have to come into play — at least until the next offseason.
Who has received franchise or transition tags in 2020?
Chris Jones, DT, Chiefs
Jones played a major role in Kansas City’s first NFL championship in 50 years. The pass-rushing defensive tackle has 24.5 sacks in his past two seasons, and his fourth-quarter deflected pass in Super Bowl 54 was instrumental in the Chiefs’ comeback victory. Unsurprisingly, the team has decided to lock him down via the franchise tag as it works on a potential long-term extension in the near future.
A.J. Green, WR, Bengals
Green averaged 79 catches, 1,174 yards, and eight touchdowns per season over his first seven seasons in the league, but injuries have limited him to only nine games the past two years. He missed all of 2019 with an ankle injury, but his past production has convinced the Bengals to keep him around atop a receiving corps that also features Tyler Boyd, John Ross, and Auden Tate. That will give the team a solid supporting cast for projected No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow next fall.
The Bengals currently plan to franchise tag wide receiver A.J. Green, as they want him in Cincinnati in 2020 either through the tag or a longer deal, sources told @DanGrazianoESPN and me. A good selling point for the team’s No. 1 pick.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) March 1, 2020
Who could receive the franchise or transition tags in 2020?
Several players could wind up tagged under either the franchise or transition designation as their teams work out their roster building plans this spring. Notable candidates include:
Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys
Amari Cooper, WR, Cowboys
Ryan Tannehill, QB, Titans
Derrick Henry, RB, Titans
Yannick Ngakoue, DE, Jaguars
James Bradberry, CB, Panthers
Justin Simmons, S, Broncos
Shaquil Barrett, EDGE, Buccaneers
Bud Dupree, EDGE, Steelers
Austin Hooper, TE, Falcons
Who received the franchise tag in 2019?
Six players received the tag in 2019 — the same number as in 2018. That included four pass rushers: Frank Clark, DeMarcus Lawrence, Dee Ford, and Jadeveon Clowney. All but Lawrence wound up being traded after being tagged, and only Clowney failed to use his tag as a springboard to a long-term contract last offseason. Kicker Robbie Gould and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett were also given the franchise tag in 2019. Each signed a lucrative contract extension later that summer.
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