The 2025 NFL offseason is in full swing. There are still 20 days left for the free agency period, but the franchise tag period is now officialy open. Starting today, the teams across the league will be able to use the franchise tag or the transition tag on their players. March 4 is the deadline for teams to use the franchise tag.
Last year, star players like Tee Higgins, L'Jarius Sneed, Brian Burns, Jaylon Johnson, and Antoine Winfield Jr. got tagged. Most of the players who were tagged last season ended up signing extensions with their teams, but some got traded.
Ccandidates to get tagged this offseason:
- Tee Higgins
- Trey Smith
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Also Read: What does franchise tag mean in NFL? Types of tags, updated positional values, and rules for 2025
NFL Franchise Tag Tracker 2024
1. Trey Smith, Kansas City Chiefs
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The Chiefs became the first team to officially franchise tag a player this offseason. They used it on star right guard Trey Smith, who was expected to become one of the most coveted free agents.
Smith is set to make a record-breaking $23.4 million this upcoming offseason, but it's expected the Chiefs will sign him to a long-term extension. The 25-year-old player is a huge part of their success, and Kansas City wound want him around to protect Patrick Mahomes for years to come.
2. Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
On Monday, March 3, before the franchise tag deadline on Tuesday, Adam Schefter reported that the Bengals have used the franchise tag on Higgins for the second straight season. While the move looks surprising, there is an expectation that the AFC North franchise will soon want to get a deal done with the start wide receiver.
Joe Burrow has been extremely vocal in the last few months, expressing how much he wants the Bengals to keep him, Higgins, and Ja'Marr Chase together. Now, the pressure is on the franchise to offer lucrative extensions to both the wideouts, or else risk damaging their relationship with their franchise quarterback.
This is a developing story. The players' names will be added once they are officially announced.
How much will players earn after getting franchise-tagged in 2025?
The NFL's salary cap for the 2025 season is expected to rise between $10-20 million mark compared to last season's cap of $255.4 million.
Since the salary cap for the upcoming season is expected to be between $265-275 million, the players who are being franchise-tagged will also earn more.
Here's how much every player would earn in 2025 if their team uses the franchise or transition tag on them this offseason:
- Quarterbacks: $41,325,000 (franchise tag), $35,267,000 (transition tag)
- Running backs: $13,629,000 (franchise tag), $10,823,000 (transition tag)
- Wide receivers: $25,693,000 (franchise tag), $22,523,000 (transition tag)
- Tight ends: $14,241,000 (franchise tag), $12,069,000 (transition tag)
- Offensive linemen: $25,156,000 (franchise tag), $22,745,000 (transition tag)
- Defensive ends: $24,727,000 (franchise tag), $20,769,000 (transition tag)
- Defensive tackles: $23,468,000 (franchise tag), $18,934,000 (transition tag)
- Linebackers: $27,050,000 (franchise tag), $22,612,000 (transition tag)
- Cornerbacks: $20,357,000 (franchise tag), $17,198,000 (transition tag)
- Safeties: $19,626,000 (franchise tag), $15,598,000 (transition tag)
- Kickers/punters: $6,459,000 (franchise tag), $5,830,000 (transition tag)
Bengals Nation! Check out the latest Cincinnati Bengals Schedule and dive into the Bengals Depth Chart for NFL Season 2024-25.
