The 2024 NFL offseason officially began earlier this week, with the window for teams to use the franchise tag opening on Tuesday, February 20th. This begins a 15-day period during which teams can use the franchise tag on impending free agents.
When it comes to the franchise tag, teams have a few different options. Teams can use the non-exclusive franchise tag, which is the most common option. Under the non-exclusive tag, players are given one-year contracts based on the average of the top five salaries at each position over the past five years or 120 percent of their previous salaries, whichever is greater. Therefore, it is cheaper than an exclusive franchise tag, but more expensive than a transitional tag.
However, players are free to negotiate with other teams. If a player signs an offer sheet from another of his NFL teams, the player’s current team has the right to match the offer. Otherwise, when a player leaves for a new team, he receives two first-round draft picks as compensation.
Teams can also use a dedicated franchise tag, but this option is rare. Since 2012, only four players have earned this tag: Drew Brees (2012), Von Miller (2016), Kirk Cousins (2017), and Le’Veon Bell (2017). Under this designation, tagged players cannot negotiate with other teams. However, the price is higher. Under the exclusive franchise tag, a player’s salary for one year is either the average of the top five salaries at that player’s position that year or 120 percent of his previous salary.
Finally, teams can use migration tags. Under the transition tag, a player is given his one-year contract, and his annual salary is either the top 10 cap percentage average of the previous year’s salary at the player’s position, or his 120% of the previous season’s salary. or higher. Similar to non-exclusive franchise tags, players are free to negotiate with other teams, but under transition tags, teams receive no compensation if a player signs with another team.
Here are the players who earned the tag this offseason:
Tee Higgins, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
According to multiple reports, cincinnati bengals They became the first team to use the franchise tag this offseason, placing it on wide receiver Tee Higgins. Ian Rapoport’s NFL Network We first reported the news Friday night.
The league has not finalized the exact amount the franchise tag will cost this offseason, but it is expected to be around $21.8 million, fully guaranteed.
