Colts Transition Tag QB Daniel Jones Cards Release QB Kyler Murray

Colts Transition Tag QB Daniel Jones
Cards Release QB Kyler Murray
Jets Franchise Tag RB Breece Hall

Frank Coyle/ Publisher 

The deadline for the Free agency tags ended today at 4 pm. Four players were tagged, three as non-exclusive Franchise players and one transitional tag. Daniel Jones received the Transitional tag after negoiations failed to close a new deal. Jones and the Colts hope to close a deal prior to the start of Free agency on March 11th. The new NFL salary cap of $301.2M will be in place, an increase of over $20M per team for the new open market.

Jones receiving the transitional tag means Colts wideout Alec Pierce will enter free agency on the open market. He is expected to be one of the premier FAs on the market and the highest rated wide receiver. Also, Super Bowl MVP runner Kenneth Walker was not tagged and will test the market. Edge defender, Trey Hendrickson was not tagged after failing to get an agreement done over the past year. He will be highly coveted on the open market and a huge loss for the defense hungry Bengals.

Franchise Tag Players and figures 

WR George Pickens – Dallas – $28.298M

TE Kyle Pitts – Atlanta – $15.045M

RB Breece Hall – NY Jets –  $14.293M

Transition Tag Player and figure

QB Daniel Jones – Colts – $37.833M

Positional Non-exclusive Franchise Tag figures

  • Quarterback: $43.895M
  • Running back: $14.293M
  • Wide receiver: $28.298M
  • Tight end: $15.045M
  • Offensive line: $25.773M
  • Defensive end: $24.434M
  • Defensive tackle: $27.127M
  • Linebacker: $26.865M
  • Cornerback: $21.161M
  • Safety: $20.149M
  • Kicker/punter: $6.649M

The exclusive tag is often seen as prohibitively expensive, since the team must account for the entire amount on their salary cap that year. Instead, ‘franchise tag’ typically refers to the non-exclusive tag, which allows tagged players to negotiate with other teams. If they agree to an offer sheet, the original team gets a chance to match. If they decline, the player signs with a new team, who must send the original team two first-round picks.

That required compensation often makes negotiating with non-exclusive franchise-tagged players a non-starter. Instead, players on the non-exclusive tag often sign extensions with their original teams with the tag number serving as a key point of reference on a long-term AAV.

Positional figures for Transition tag

  • Quarterback: $37.833M
  • Running back: $11.323M
  • Wide receiver: $23.852M
  • Tight end: $12.687M
  • Offensive line: $23.392M
  • Defensive end: $21.512M
  • Defensive tackle: $22.521M
  • Linebacker: $21.925M
  • Cornerback: $18.119M
  • Safety: $16.012M
  • Kicker/punter: $6.005M