What Is the NFL Franchise Tag? How It Works and What It Costs
The NFL franchise tag is a one-year, fully guaranteed contract a team can apply to one pending free agent each offseason to keep him from reaching the open market. Its value is set by a league formula tied to the top salaries at the player’s position, and a team may use only one tag per year. The New York Jets have used it sparingly — most recently on safety Marcus Maye.
If you follow Jets roster breakdown coverage through free agency, the franchise tag is the single rule that decides whether a homegrown star stays or walks. This guide explains how the tag is calculated, the three versions of it, the deadlines that govern it, and what it means for the Jets’ cap sheet.
What is the NFL franchise tag?
The franchise tag is a contractual designation in the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement that lets a club retain an expiring-contract player for one additional season at a league-mandated salary. Instead of negotiating a market-rate deal, the team applies the tag and the player’s pay is set by formula.
Three things make the tag distinctive. It is fully guaranteed once the player signs the tender. It is one year only — it buys time; it does not solve a long-term contract. And each club may apply only one franchise tag in a given league year, so using it on one player means every other pending free agent hits the market.
What are the three types of franchise tag?
There are two franchise tags and one closely related transition tag. They differ in what they cost and in how much freedom the player has to negotiate elsewhere.
| Tag type | How the salary is set | Can the player negotiate elsewhere? | Compensation if he leaves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-exclusive franchise tag | Average of the top five cap numbers at his position over the last five years (applied to the current cap), or 120% of his prior salary — whichever is greater | Yes — he may sign an offer sheet with another club | Original team may match; if it declines, it receives two first-round picks |
| Exclusive franchise tag | Average of the top five salaries at his position for the current league year, or 120% of his prior salary — whichever is greater | No — he may negotiate only with his own team | Not applicable; he cannot sign elsewhere |
| Transition tag | Average of the top ten salaries at his position | Yes | Right of first refusal only — no draft-pick compensation |
Pro tip: the exclusive tag is the safer of the two franchise tags because it removes the offer-sheet risk entirely, but it is also the more expensive one, since it is priced off current-year salaries rather than a five-year lookback.
How is the franchise tag salary calculated?
The tag is a formula, not a negotiation. For the non-exclusive tag, the league takes the average of the five largest cap charges at the player’s position across the previous five seasons, expresses that as a percentage of the salary cap in those years, and applies the resulting percentage to the current cap.
That produces one number. The player is then guaranteed the greater of that number or 120% of his salary from the prior season. Because position is what drives the math, tag values differ enormously: a quarterback tag and a tight end tag are not remotely comparable numbers, and a team’s willingness to use the tag usually tracks the position more than the player.
- First tag: the position formula, or 120% of the prior salary, whichever is greater.
- Second consecutive tag on the same player: 120% of his previous year’s tag salary.
- Third consecutive tag: 144% of the prior salary, or the average of the top five quarterback salaries — whichever is greater. This is deliberately punitive and is almost never used.
Because tag salary counts against the cap in full for that season, a tag is a blunt instrument for a team already tight on space. That interaction is covered in more depth in our explainer on how the NFL salary cap works.
When can a team apply the franchise tag?
The tag operates inside a fixed calendar, and each date matters.
- Tag window opens: in late winter, roughly two weeks before the new league year begins. Clubs may designate a franchise or transition player at any point in that window.
- Tag deadline: the window closes in early March, shortly before free agency opens. A club that misses it loses the option entirely for that year.
- Extension deadline: in mid-July, a tagged player and his team lose the ability to sign a multi-year deal for that season. After that date he can only play on the one-year tag or sit out.
That July deadline is why tag situations so often turn into summer standoffs. A player who wants long-term security and does not get it by mid-July has one remaining source of leverage — his own attendance — and reporting late or not at all becomes the story of training camp.
What happens after a player is tagged?
Tagging a player is a tender, not a signature. He is not under contract until he signs it.
Once he does sign, the salary is fully guaranteed for that season and he is treated like any other player under contract. Until he signs, he is not obligated to attend offseason work, and he cannot be fined for missing voluntary sessions. Teams and tagged players usually spend the spring negotiating a long-term deal in the background, using the tag as a floor.
A tag can also be rescinded. If a club withdraws the designation before the player signs, he becomes an unrestricted free agent — and the club gets its one tag back for use on someone else.
How have the Jets used the franchise tag?
New York has been a conservative tag team, which reflects a roster that has more often been rebuilding than protecting established veterans at premium positions.
The most recent Jets franchise tag went to safety Marcus Maye in 2021. Maye played the season on the tag rather than an extension, and left the following offseason — a textbook illustration of the tag’s central weakness: it delays a decision by twelve months without resolving it. Jets Insider’s archive covers the move in Jets Place Franchise Tag On Marcus Maye.
Practically, the tag matters most for the Jets when a drafted-and-developed player at a premium position — edge rusher, cornerback, wide receiver — reaches the end of a rookie deal ahead of schedule. Those are the situations worth watching each February in our New York Jets analysis coverage.
Franchise tag vs. other roster tools
The tag is one of several mechanisms a club uses to control a roster, and it is easy to confuse with the others.
- Franchise tag vs. extension: an extension is multi-year and negotiated; the tag is one year and formulaic. Teams that want a player long term use the tag only as a placeholder.
- Franchise tag vs. transition tag: the transition tag is cheaper (top ten, not top five) but carries no draft-pick protection, so a club risks losing the player for nothing.
- Franchise tag vs. the practice squad: entirely different tools. The tag retains an established veteran; the practice squad develops players outside the 53-man roster. See What Is the NFL Practice Squad?
- Franchise tag vs. depth chart standing: a tagged player is a roster lock for that season, which reshapes the depth chart around him. Our guide to reading an NFL depth chart explains how those slots are ordered.
Frequently asked questions about the NFL franchise tag
How many players can a team franchise tag?
One per league year. A club may apply either a franchise tag or a transition tag, but not both in the same year, and not to two different players. That scarcity is why the tag is reserved for a team’s single most valuable pending free agent.
Is the franchise tag guaranteed money?
Yes. Once the tagged player signs the tender, the full one-year salary is guaranteed for that season. Before he signs, nothing is guaranteed — which is the source of most tag-related holdouts.
Can a franchise-tagged player refuse to play?
He can. A tagged player is not under contract until he signs the tender, so he may skip offseason work and training camp without contractual penalty. He does not accrue a season toward free agency if he sits out, so the leverage cuts both ways.
Can a team trade a franchise-tagged player?
Yes, but the acquiring team takes on the tag salary and the tag itself. Trades of tagged players typically happen after the player has signed the tender, since an unsigned tender is harder to move.
What is the deadline to sign a long-term deal with a tagged player?
Mid-July. After that date, a tagged player and his club cannot agree to a multi-year contract covering that season — the player either plays on the one-year tag or does not play.
What happens if a player is tagged twice or three times?
The second consecutive tag costs 120% of the prior year’s tag salary. A third costs 144% of the prior salary or the average of the top five quarterback salaries, whichever is greater. The escalators are steep enough that a third tag is effectively theoretical.
Do the Jets have to use the franchise tag every year?
No. The tag is an option, not an obligation, and most clubs decline to use it in a given offseason. The Jets have gone multiple years at a stretch without tagging anyone.