The window will close on Tuesday, March 4th at 3 p.m. CT.
The NFL’s franchise tag window opens Tuesday, February 18, at 3 p.m. CT, making today the first day that clubs can use the tender. The window will close on Tuesday, March 4 at 3 p.m. CT.
What is the franchise tag?
A franchise tag is a one-year contract that each NFL team is allowed to use one time during the offseason. The franchise tag will allow a team to keep a player on a guaranteed deal with a non-negotiated salary. This can used only on players who are set to become unrestricted free agents.
These are the two types of franchise tags:
- Exclusive Franchise Tag: Under this tag, the player is prohibited from negotiating with other teams. The offered salary is the average of the top salaries for players in the same position.
- Non-exclusive Franchise Tag: In this scenario, the player can negotiate with other teams. The original team has the right to match any offer, and if they choose not to, they receive two first-round draft picks from the signing team as compensation.
Once the tag is used on a player, both sides will have until July 15 to work out a multi-year extension. If no agreement is reached, then the player will play under the one-year tender.
Will the Saints tag anyone?
Since its creation during the 1993 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the New Orleans Saints have only used the franchise tag five times: Darren Howard (2004, 2005), Charles Grant (2007), Drew Brees (2012), Jimmy Graham (2014) and Marcus Williams (2021)
It is unlikely that the Saints will use the tag this year, given the state of their salary cap situation. But anything can happen, so we will wait and see how the next two weeks will play out just before free agency officially begins at 3:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday, March 12.