How does the NFL franchise tag work?

The franchise tag is a relatively simple process, but the ramifications can be big for both teams and players.

With the NFL offseason heating up, one of the biggest storylines to watch will be which players get the franchise tag. Starting Feb. 20, 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 16 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.

We don’t have official numbers for the 2018 season just yet, but they will be higher than they were a year ago. Here were the salary totals from 2017.

Quarterbacks: $21.268 million
Running backs: $12.120 million
Wide receivers: $15.682 million
Tight ends: $9.780 million
Offensive linemen: $14.271 million
Defensive tackles: $13.387million
Defensive ends: $16.934 million
Linebackers: $14.550 million
Cornerbacks: $14.212 million
Safeties: $10.896 million
Kickers/Punters: $4.835 million

Teams can only use the tag once per year. 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.

Once a player gets tagged, that’s when the real drama begins. Both sides have until July 16 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 gotten the franchise tag so far in 2018?

• Jarvis Landry, Miami Dolphins: Despite being one of the best possession receivers in football, the Dolphins have been hesitant about committing a long-term extension to Landry. He’ll make more than $16 million under the tag, but the Dolphins are reportedly trying to trade him.
• Ezekiel Ansah, Detroit Lions: Ansah bounced back from an injury-riddled 2016 to record 12 sacks and re-establish himself as one of the league’s premier pass rushers. Health is an ongoing concern with him, but new head coach Matt Patricia wasn’t going to let Ansah go anywhere. Now both sides have until July 16 to work out a long-term deal.

Who are the other top franchise tag candidates in 2018?

• Le’veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers: Bell has already hinted that he’ll hold out or even retire if tagged again. That’s an obvious negotiating ploy, but it reveals that the team is possibly leaning towards it again. Bell not only wants to be the highest-paid RB in football, he wants to reset the market for the position. This will be a contentious situation to watch.
• Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers: It will be stunning if the 49ers don’t lock up Garoppolo to a long-term deal, but the tag is there as a backup plan just in case. Either way, we don’t expect Jimmy G to leave the Bay Area after a thrilling second half of 2017. (Update: Garoppolo got that big payday, no franchise tag necessary.)
• Demarcus Lawrence, Dallas Cowboys: Lawrence had his long-awaited breakout year in 2017, with 14.5 sacks and his first Pro Bowl appearance. The Cowboys would be foolish to let him walk and deplete an already-thin defensive line, so look for them to pull out all the stops to keep Lawrence in town.

Here’s the full list of players who got tagged in 2017:

• Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell (exclusive)
• Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins (exclusive)
• Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Melvin Ingram (non-exclusive)
• Los Angeles Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson (non-exclusive)
• Arizona Cardinals linebacker Chandler Jones (non-exclusive)
• New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (non-exclusive)
• Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Kawann Short (non-exclusive)

Washington gave Cousins the tag for the second straight year. Barring a tag-and-trade scenario, that won’t be happening a third time. Cousins is set to hit the open market after Washington traded for Alex Smith, and he stands a good chance of being the highest-paid quarterback in football.

Ingram, Jones, Short, and Pierre-Paul all worked out long-term deals with their respective teams. Bell and Johnson played out 2017 under the tag.