The 2025 season ended eight days ago. In one day, the first important moment arrives towards refining the lists for 2026.
The annual two-week window for applying the franchise label opens on Tuesday February 17.
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As some have suggested in the past, the only day that really matters is the last day the tag is applied (March 3). But with the Scouting Combine (aka Tampering Central) taking place next week, some teams might be inclined to apply the tag before they all gather in Indianapolis, to make it clear that an impending free agent won’t be a free agent.
This is the most important thing to remember about the franchise tag. This gives each team the opportunity to prevent one player per year from earning a long-term contract on the open market from cash- and cap-rich teams.
Last year, only two tags were applied: by the Bengals to receiver Tee Higgins and by the Chiefs to guard Trey Smith. It was the fewest tags in total since 2006.
This year, there are several intriguing candidates for the franchise tag (or, in theory, the little-used transition tag).
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The list starts with Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III. He finished his 2022 second-round contract with a bang, gaining 376 rushing yards in three playoff games and winning the Super Bowl MVP award. It would cost the Seahawks $14.1 million to extend Walker’s stay for a fifth year and/or extend the opportunity to sign him to a long-term deal until July 15.
The question for the Seahawks is whether another team will break the bank for a running back and whether Walker (with his name and accomplishments taken out of the equation) warrants a major investment in the future, given the supply and demand realities of the running back position. (In 2006, the Seahawks gave running back Shaun Alexander a market-level deal after his MVP season, and they quickly regretted it.)
Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens could be headed for the title, although he may not be thrilled about it. One year and $28 million is a far cry from the multi-year, market-level deal ($40 million per year or more) he might want.
Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts Sr. will hit the market barring a tag. He had a career-high in catches (88) and touchdowns (five), but Pitts has yet to live up to the potential that made him the fourth overall pick in 2021, one spot above receiver Ja’Marr Chase. It remains to be seen whether Atlanta’s new regime (led by the quarterback who threw passes to Pitts as a rookie) will choose to apply the $16 million tag.
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The Eagles sent a third-round pick during the 2025 season to the Dolphins for linebacker Jaelan Phillips. He performed well in Philadelphia, and the Eagles must decide whether to try to keep him or let him go, and collect a potential compensatory draft pick in 2027.
The Bengals could decide to use that tag to keep defensive end Trey Hendrickson for another year. The price ($30.1992 million, based on his 2025 cap hit) is high. And there is ongoing acrimony between player and team.
Whatever the final figure, the number will likely be much closer to last year’s two than the record 21 from 2012. That year, the change in calculation from the 2011 CBA, combined with a small increase in the cap due to the lockout, made using the tag less expensive.
Cheap continues to be the key word. Teams want to keep their best players without having to pay market rates. And while, in theory, this only affects players who don’t become free agents, it also holds back the rest of the market by not allowing top free agents to get every penny they deserve.
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So yes, the franchise label stinks for players. But it will never go away, given that it gives teams the annual opportunity to keep a very talented player without giving him the contract he otherwise would have earned.
