The National Football League (NFL) is an internationally prominent professional sports league. Each year, NFL teams have the option to retain the rights to one of their players by using the franchise tag. However, what is the franchise tag in the NFL?
A franchise tag is a restriction on a player's free agency that a team can apply to one of its players. This designation permits the team to retain the player's rights for one season, even if his contract has expired and he is free to sign with any other team.
There are two different categories of franchise tags, exclusive and non-exclusive. The franchise tag prohibits the player from negotiating with other teams and requires him to accept the one-year contract offer from his current team. The non-exclusive franchise tag permits the player to negotiate with other teams, but his current team reserves the right to match any offer from another team.
If the current team chooses not to match the offer, the signing team will compensate it with two first-round draft choices. Teams are only permitted to use the franchise tag once per year, and it is typically applied to a player who is viewed as a crucial contributor to the team's success.
The franchise tag salary is based on the average salaries of the top five players at the player's position, or 120% of the player's previous year's salary, whichever is greater.
In conclusion, the franchise tag is an essential tool for NFL teams to retain the rights to their star players. It enables a team to retain a player for one more season despite the player's expired contract. The franchise tag is typically applied to athletes deemed indispensable to the team's success.
