NFL Franchise Tag Rules and Deadline 2023

The NFL franchise tag works to let teams keep a player for one season when both want to keep or can’t agree on a new contract.

Here are some criteria for NFL Franchise Tag:

• A player must be scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent to be eligible for the tag.
• A team can only use a franchise tag per year, and it has to decide whether to use an exclusive or non-exclusive tag.
• The Salary for a franchise-tagged player is based on the average of the top five salaries at his position or 120% of his previous year’s salary, whichever is higher.
• A team can tag a player up to three times, but wages increase every time.
•  A team has until March 8 to apply the tag, and the tagged player can still negotiate a long-term deal with his team until July 15th.
• Only one player per franchise, each season can receive a franchise tag.
• After a franchise-tagged player spends another season with his old team.
• One player who could leave the team as a free agent can be tagged as a transition player by each club.

A player can be franchised tagged up to three times by his team, but the team must pay the player more each year he is tagged.

When a player gets a franchise tag twice in a row, his pay automatically increases by 20%. In his third year, his salary increases by 44%.

This rule ensures that the players are not forced to endure under-market deals for too long. However, before a player can be tagged for a second season or third time, he must be offered a new contract by his team.

Defensive Tackle Walter Jones was tagged for three consecutive seasons from 2002 to 2004, all while earning the highest wages as the franchise player, before signing a long-term deal with the Seahawks in 2005.

Similarly, the Cowboys tagged Linebacker Anthony Spencer for the second year in a row. Spencer had his best career year in 2012, his seventh season.

Spencer’s one-year franchise tag is worth $10.638 million. His salary increased by 120 percent from his 2012 salary of $8.865 million because the Cowboys tagged him twice in a row.

The uncommon exclusive tag holders since 2012 are Drew Brees (2012), Von Miller (2016), Kirk Cousins (2017), and Le’Veon Bell (2017).

NFL deadline to sign franchise tag 2023 is Monday, July 17, at 4 pm ET. The usual date of July 15 fell on Saturday.

A franchise tag in NFL allows the team to retain top free agents by using the franchise tag for one year, with a guaranteed salary. However, after the deadline (July 17), tagged players cannot negotiate new multi-year deals with their team.

They have to play the 2023 season under the one-year tag if they do not sign a long-term contract by then.

The deadline for long-term contracts for franchised players came and went without a deal for the Giants RB Saquon Barkley, Raiders RB Josh Jacobs, and Cowboys RB Tony Pollard.

They were the only ones who got the franchise tag and did not sign a long-term contract, and they had until 4 PM Monday to do so, which came and passed with no deal.

As Running back, they will now play for the 2023 season on their franchise tags, which pay $10.091 million.

Pollard has already agreed to his tag. But Barkley and Jacobs have not signed theirs and skipped their teams’ off-season activities.

Running back franchise tag 2023 includes Tony Pollard, Saquon Barkley, and Josh Jacobs.

Pollard was tagged by the Cowboys, Barkley by the Giants, and Jacobs by the Raiders.

Saquon Barkley

The two-time Pro Bowl winner Giants RB Barkley will make $10.091 million in the 2023 season under the one-year franchise tender. Before joining the NFL, he played college football at Penn State.

Saquon Barkley franchise tag deadline for the 2023 season was over on Monday without any long-term deal. Can the Giants tag Barkley again in 2024 for a 120% increase on his 2023 contract?

Barkley was drafted second overall by the Giants in the 2018 NFL Draft, setting several NFL and team records for making the 2018 Pro Bowl and being honored as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Barkey set a career-high 1,312 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns in a Pro Bowl season in 2022 after dealing with injuries in the 2020 season.

Josh Jacobs

25-year-old RB Jacobs was selected in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Raiders. Jacobs became a free agent this offseason after the Raiders did not pick up his fifth-year option on his rookie deal.

The Raiders tagged Jacobs for one more year on March 6, 2023, hoping to sign him to a long-term deal. The Raiders and RB Josh Jacobs did not agree on a long-term deal, despite extensive negotiations.

Now, it’s unclear when he will sign his $10.091 million franchise tag tender for the upcoming season.

Josh played college football at Alabama from 2016 to 2018 before being selected by the Raiders in 2019. He completed his college football journey with a total of 1,491 rushing yards and 16 TDs.

Jacobs has several career records while playing for the Raiders including the most rushing yards in the first two seasons of 2,215 yards and rushing yards per game 79.0.

Tony Pollard

RB Tony Pollard has signed his tender at $10.091 million after failing to reach a long-term agreement before the franchise deadline.

Pollard had an impressive 1,378 scrimmage yards and 12 touchdowns while earning his first Pro Bowl selection. Still, it was not surprising that Dallas did not secure him right away after that.

The 6 feet tall Pollard was drafted in the 4th round of the 2019 NFL Draft and finished the 2022 season with a rushing yard of 2,616.