The NFL’s franchise tag deadline is Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. Who will receive it this year? What will that mean for the free agent market? Here’s everything you need to know.
Which players have received the franchise tag?
Kansas City Chiefs OL Trey Smith
Cincinnati Bengals WR Tee Higgins
The Dallas Cowboys, meanwhile, reportedly intend to franchise defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa if the two sides can’t work out a long-term deal before Tuesday’s deadline.
What is the NFL franchise tag?
The franchise tag is a designation NFL teams may use to retain one player set to be an unrestricted free agent and sign them to a set contract for another year. There are exclusive and non-exclusive tags, as well as transition tags.
Exclusive tags mean the contract must be no less than either the average of the top five salaries at that player’s position or 120% of the player’s salary the previous season, whichever is greater. It also means the player is not allowed to negotiate with other teams and may not sign with another team should they reject the offer.
Non-exclusive tags mean the contract must be no less than either the average of the top five cap hits at that player’s position or 120% of the player’s salary the previous season, whichever is greater. Unlike the exclusive tag, however, the player is allowed to negotiate with other teams, and if he receives an offer, his current team has the chance to match. If the team chooses not to match, it’s entitled to receive draft compensation equivalent to two first-round draft picks from the signing team.
Transition tags are another designation NFL teams may use to retain one player set to be an unrestricted free agent and sign him to a set contract for another year. The contract must be no less than the average of the top 10 salaries at the player’s position, and there is no guaranteed compensation. Also, players are allowed to negotiate with other teams.
What are the NFL franchise tag positional values for 2024?
Quarterback: $40.242 million
Running back: $13.64 million
Wide receiver: $23.959 million
Tight end: $13.826 million
Offensive line: $23.4 million
Defensive end: $22.0625 million
Defensive tackle: $25.12 million
Linebacker: $25.45 million
Cornerback: $20.187 million
Safety: $18.601 million
Punter/kicker: $6.313 million
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Sean McVay says trading Cooper Kupp is the “hardest decision” he’s had to make as a coach
When speaking with reporters on Monday, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay addressed one of the elephants in the room: receiver Cooper Kupp, who the team is looking to trade.
Last month, Kupp, who has spent his entire NFL career with the Rams, announced that the team was looking to “immediately” trade him. “I don’t agree with the decision and always believed it was going to begin and end in LA,” Kupp wrote as part of a statement thanking Rams fans.
McVay told reporters on Monday that deciding to trade Kupp was the “hardest decision” he’s made as a head coach.
“We just felt like that was the best direction for our football team … in terms of putting together the whole puzzle. There’s obviously a lot of layers to that,” McVay said.
Sean McVay on Rams making Cooper Kupp available via trade: “We just felt like that was the best direction for our football team … in terms of putting together the whole puzzle. There’s obviously a lot of layers to that.”
— Adam Grosbard (@AdamGrosbard) March 3, 2025
As for whether McVay will bring Kupp back if the Rams can’t find someone to trade him to: “I would never speak in absolutes,” McVay told reporters.
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Matthew Stafford will stay with Rams under adjusted version of current deal, per Sean McVay
Matthew Stafford is staying with the Los Angeles Rams for the near future, with the team announcing Friday that the veteran QB sticking around on a restructured deal. Although the terms of the deal were unknown at the time, Rams head coach Sean McVay provided a few more details during a press conference on Monday.
McVay told reporters that Stafford’s restructured deal would be part of his existing extension, which he signed in 2022. Stafford’s current deal runs through 2026, holding salary cap hits of $49.7 million and $53.7 million, respectively, over the next two seasons; most likely, those amounts are what the team will work to adjust.
The Rams coach added that he expects to have a similar conversation with Stafford next season, but that it hopefully won’t take as long.
Sean McVay: Rams will adjust Matthew Stafford’s financial terms under existing extension – operating on a year-to-year basis. He expects this conversation again next year (reiterating he wants Stafford as long as Stafford wants to play). He hopes it takes even less time in 2026.
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) March 3, 2025
McVay told reporters that he’d “been sleeping better these last couple of days” since Stafford agreed to stay.
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Cowboys, LB Micah Parsons begin extension talks
Star linebacker Micah Parsons is signed for one more season after the Cowboys picked up his fifth-year option for $21.32 million. But the team wants to sign him to a long-term contract extension before he can become a free agent.
That process reportedly began this week at the NFL scouting combine with Dallas starting “general” contract talks with Parsons this week, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Where could contract negotiations begin? Nick Bosa is the NFL’s highest-paid pass rusher, signing a five-year, $170 million deal in 2023, giving him an average annual salary of $34 million. He had nine sacks and 55 tackles in 14 games last season. Parsons registered 12 sacks and 44 tackles, limited to 13 games by an ankle injury.
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NFL Top 25 free agents
As the opening of the NFL free agency “tampering” period opens on March 10, who are the top players available to be signed? Yahoo Sports’ Frank Schwab assembled a list of the top 25 free agents on the open market.
It’s not a great crop for teams that need a quarterback, but that will likely make Sam Darnold a man in demand.
“It didn’t end on a high note, but Darnold was excellent for most of the 2024 season. And there’s a lot of desperation at quarterback around the NFL. The case for Darnold is his draft pedigree and the results he showed when he was finally in a good situation. The case against him is it’s a small sample of success and the final two games were ugly. He’ll get paid, and it’ll come with risk.”
Teams in need of pass rushers, interior defensive linemen and offensive lineman will find plenty of options.
Who is the No. 1 player on the market? View the complete list of top 25 free agents here.
