The franchise tag sucks.
A product of the 1993 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the franchise tag gives each team the ability to squat on one unrestricted free agent per year. It keeps him from getting to the open market. From getting fair value on a multi-year deal. From pushing the bar at his position higher, which will help the other players at the same position.
The owners love it. They’ll never let it go. And while it only affects a limited number of players every year, all of them should hate it.
There’s a very specific reason to hate it. For several positions, the franchise tenders don’t come close to reflecting market value.
Case in point: Cowboys receiver George Pickens. He’ll make $27.298 million under the franchise tag at his position. The top of the market, however, is $40 million per year.
There’s a similar discrepancy at the multiple other positions.
At quarterback, the tag costs $43.895 million. The top of the market is $60 million.
At running back, the tag has been set at $14.293 million. The top of the market is $20.6 million.
At defensive end, the tag is $24.34 million. The top of the market is nearly twice that, at $46.5 million.
At cornerback, the tag is $21.6 million. The top of the market is $30.1 million.
For other positions, the gap isn’t quite as big.
At tight end, the tag is $15 million. The top of the market is $19.15 million.
For offensive lineman, the tag is $25.773 million. The top of the market is $28.5 million.
For defensive tackles, the tag is $27.127 million. The top of the market is $31.75 million.
At safety, the tag is $20.149 million. The top of the market is $25.1 million.
Linebacker is an odd position. The tag is $26.865 million, but the top of the market is $21 million. (That’s the result of some players who are more accurately described as edge rushers landing in the linebacker category, for tag purposes.)
For kickers and punters, the $6.649 million tag exceeds the market. The top of the market for kickers is currently at $6.4 million; for punters, it’s at $4 million.
At the positions where the tag lags behind the top of the market, it becomes a no-brainer for teams to use it. Where the tag approaches the market, it’s a closer call. When the tag outpaces the market, it’s a no-brainer to not use it.
Case in point: Because all offensive linemen land in the same bucket, the Ravens weren’t going to tag center Tyler Linderbaum. The top of the market at center is $18 million, more than $7 million below the tag amount.
The formula for determining the tag changed in the 2011 CBA. (It’s based on the cap percentage consumed by the franchise tag at the position on a five-year rolling average.) For the next CBA, here’s hoping that the union pushes for a revised calculation that results in a smaller gap between the tag and the top of the market, for all positions.
Cowboys Clips
Before the Cowboys can “bust the budget,” they’ll need to balance the books. And there’s an easy way to do it.
Contained in almost every multi-year veteran contract is a clause that gives the team the ability to perform an automatic restructuring, converting the current year’s compensation package into a bonus, with the cap charge spread over multiple years.
Via Todd Archer of ESPN.com, the Cowboys will create $66 million in 2026 cap space by performing an automatic restructuring of quarterback Dak Prescott’s, receiver CeeDee Lamb’s, and guard Tyler Smith’s contracts.
The money doesn’t disappear. It moves to future cap years, where the $66 million in cap dollars will have a smaller relative impact, given that the salary cap increases each and every year.
It’s how most teams create spending money for the upcoming effort to sign new players. It’s a Band-Aid that gets applied annually. For many players, it leads to a significant cap hit once the player is traded or released, or when he retires.
Regardless, that’s how it’s done. Most if not every team does it. It’s one of the realities of opting not to pay as you go, absorbing lower cap numbers in the early years of the deal.
The Cowboys won’t have that luxury with receiver George Pickens unless his franchise tender is replaced with a long-term deal. Until then, he’ll count for $27.298 million against the 2028 cap — a huge increase over his $3.65 million salary and cap number in 2025.
Regardless, the Cowboys need cap space if they’re going to spend in free agency. The Prescott, Lamb, and Smith restructurings are the easiest way to create plenty of it.
Two years ago, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones declared that he’d be “all-in” during the 2024 offseason, before gradually warping the common meaning of the term.
This year, he’s more specific about his plan for improving a team that missed the playoffs for the second straight season — and that hasn’t been to the NFC Championship in 30 years and counting.
“I would bet that we will spend more money in free agency than we have,” Jones said in a session on his bus with beat writers, via Clarence E. Hill Jr. of All City DLLS. “I want you to know that the only way to push forward is for me to go borrow some of my future. Expect me to go borrow some of my future, okay? So that’s one representation that you’re thinking of now, as opposed to in the future. But I look at things, frankly, beyond that. I look at where we are with Dak [Prescott], and I look at where he is in his career. And I look at some of the pluses that we have on our front, what we think we could do there, and what we could do with [George] Pickens and [CeeDee] Lamb, and what we could do with our running back that we just signed. And so all of those things, I want to do everything we possibly can to stop somebody, and to basically win some third downs more than we did last year. So I think that would be the area that you would see me bust the budget.”
Bust the budget. He’s written a pretty clear check when it comes to his intention to write some checks to available veterans.
Now, we’ll see whether he does indeed “bust the budget.” Or whether he tries in the coming weeks and months to alter the definition of the phrase.
Teams making decisions about picking up the fifth-year options on the contracts of their 2023 first-round picks now know how much that will cost.
The NFL revealed the values on Friday afternoon. There are four levels of compensation at each position. Players who have made multiple Pro Bowls as an original selection are at the top followed by players with one Pro Bowl selection and players who have hit playing time milestones before reaching the lowest level.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud were the first two picks of that draft and both of them reached the playing time level of compensation. That will leave them with fully guaranteed salaries of $25.904 million if the teams decide to exercise the options, but longer-term extensions are also a possibility now that they have finished their third seasons.
The full list of 2023 first-rounders — there were 31 that year because the Dolphins were stripped of their pick — and their fifth-year option salaries appears below:
1. Panthers QB Bryce Young — $25.904 million (playing time).
2. Texans QB C.J. Stroud — $25.904 million (playing time).
3. Texans DE Will Anderson — $21.512 (Pro Bowl).
4. Colts QB Anthony Richardson — $22.483 million (base).
5. Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon — $21.161 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
6. Cardinals OT Paris Johnson — $19.072 million (playing time).
7. Raiders DE Tyree Wilson — $14.475 million (base).
8. Falcons RB Bijan Robinson — $11.323 million (Pro Bowl).
9. Eagles DT Jalen Carter — $27.127 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
10. Bears OT Darnell Wright — $19.072 million (playing time).
11. Titans OG Peter Skoronski — $19.072 million (playing time).
12. Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs — $14.293 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
13. Packers DE Lukas Van Ness — $14.475 million (base).
14. Steelers OT Broderick Jones — $19.072 million (playing time).
15. Jets DE Will McDonald — $14.475 million (base).
16. Rams CB Emmanuel Forbes — $12.633 million (base).
17. Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez — $18.119 million (Pro Bowl).
18. Lions LB Jack Campbell — $21.925 million (Pro Bowl).
19. Buccaneers DT Calijah Kancey — $15.451 (playing time).
20. Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba — $23.852 million (Pro Bowl).
21. Chargers WR Quentin Johnston — $18 million (playing time).
22. Ravens WR Zay Flowers — $27.298 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
23. Vikings WR Jordan Addison — $18 million (playing time).
24. Giants CB Deonte Banks — $12.633 million (base).
25. Bills TE Dalton Kincaid — $8.162 million (base).
26. Jets DT Mazi Smith — $13.391 million (base) Smith was traded to the Jets by the Cowboys.
27. Jaguars OT Anton Harrison — $19.072 million (playing time).
28. Bengals DE Myles Murphy — $14.475 million (base).
29. Saints DT Bryan Bresee — $13.391 million (base).
30. Eagles LB Nolan Smith — $13.752 million (base).
31. Chiefs Felix Anudike-Uzomah — $14.475 million (base).
The Cowboys officially placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on wide receiver George Pickens, which will carry a salary of $27.298 million for the 2026 season.
The NFL announced the official franchise tag and transition numbers on Friday.
Clarence Hill of All-City DLLS reports that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones called Pickens on Thursday before flying to Indianapolis to inform him of the team’s intent to tag the wide receiver.
“We couldn’t take the chance on losing him,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones told Hill. “George was fired up, excited. He said, ‘I don’t want to play anywhere but with the Cowboys.’ That’s what we suspected. It was all good.”
It seems hard to believe that Pickens would have been “fired up” about receiving the franchise tag. He will truly be “fired up” if the Cowboys can work out a long-term deal worth more than $30 million annually.
Pickens led the team in targets (137), catches (93), yards (1,429) and touchdowns (eight) in 2025 after a trade from Pittsburgh.
The NFL set the 2026 salary cap at $301.2 million on Friday and they also revealed the franchise and transition tag numbers that teams will be able to use on their own free agents.
The Cowboys will be using the non-exclusive tag on wide receiver George Pickens and that will carry a salary of $27.298 million for the coming season. Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts has also been tagged and the team will owe him $15.045 million if he plays out the year under the tag.
Non-exclusive tags are set at the higher of the sum of the previous five franchise tags at a player’s position divided by the salary caps for those years or 120 percent of the player’s salary from the previous season. Players who receive that tag can sign offer sheets with other clubs and their original team receives two first-round picks if they choose not to match the offer.
Exclusive franchise tags are also available. The salary is set at the greater of the top five salaries at their position for the previous year or the non-exclusive amount and players who receive that tag cannot negotiate with other clubs.
No players have received a transition tag at this point, but there is some speculation that the Jets will use it for running back Breece Hall. That amount would be $11.323 million, which is derived from the average of the top 10 prior year salaries. Teams can match any offer sheets for players on transition tags, but they do not receive any compensation for choosing not to match.
The non-exclusive franchise tag and transition tag amounts for each position are:
Quarterback: $43.895 million (franchise), $37.833 million (transition)
Running Back: $14.293 million, $11.323 million
Wide Receiver: $27.298 million, $23.852 million
Tight End: $15.045 million, $12.687 million
Offensive Line: $25.773 million, $23.392 million
Defensive End: $24.434 million, $21.512 million
Defensive Tackle: $27.127 million, $22.521 million
Linebacker: $26.865 million, $21.925 million
Cornerback: $21.161 million, $18.119 million
Safety: $20.149 million, $16.012 million
Kicker/Punter: $6.649 million, $6.005 million
The Cowboys have made it official, using the franchise tag on wide receiver George Pickens, the team announced Friday.
The wide receiver tag is projected at a fully guaranteed $28.824 million for 2026.
The Cowboys used the non-exclusive tag on Pickens, according to Todd Archer of ESPN. That allows other teams to speak with Pickens’ agent when free agency begins, but the Cowboys would receive two first-round picks in return if another team signed him to an offer sheet they didn’t match.
The tag gives the Cowboys until July 15 to work out a long-term deal.
The Cowboys met with Pickens’ representation on Thursday night in Indianapolis, according to Archer, but the talks were “more general in nature than in depth.”
Receiver CeeDee Lamb signed a four-year, $136 million contract extension with the Cowboys before the 2024 season, guaranteeing him $100 million. Pickens could want as much or more than the $34 million per season that Lamb makes.
Pickens led the team in targets (137), catches (93), yards (1,429) and touchdowns (eight).
The Commanders will be looking for a new starting center.
Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Commanders will release Tyler Biadasz.
Biadasz signed a three-year, $29.25 million contract with the Commanders in 2024. He started 31 regular-season games over two seasons.
He was due to make $8.3 million in 2026, with a $1 million roster bonus due on April 1.
Biadasz landed on injured reserve late in the 2025 season with a knee and ankle injury, after starting 16 games.
A Pro Bowler in 2022, Biadasz previously played four years with the Cowboys. He was a fourth-round pick in the 2020 draft.
The Cowboys are trying to work out a multi-year deal with kicker Brandon Aubrey before he becomes a restricted free agent and they are reportedly preparing a tender offer for another one of their impending restricted free agents.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that the team plans to use a second-round tender on guard T.J. Bass. The tender carries a salary of $5.8 million for the 2026 season.
Another team could sign Bass to an offer sheet and the Cowboys would receive a second-round pick if they opt against matching it.
Bass has appeared in 48 games for the Cowboys over the last three seasons and he’s made 10 starts.
The Cowboys’ move to hire Christian Parker as their defensive coordinator will lead to a change in their base defensive principles and it will lead to a position change for one member of their linebacking corps.
Marist Liufau has been an inside linebacker since joining the team as a 2024 third-round pick, but head coach Brian Schottenheimer said at his Thursday press conference from the Scouting Combine that the team will be moving him to a new spot with Parker at the helm.
“Marist Liufau, we’re gonna move him to outside linebacker,” Schottenheimer said, via the team’s website. “That kind of fits his strengths, right? He’s got length, he’s got long arms and he’s really good at disrupting the ball.”
Liufau has started 14 of 34 games since joining the Cowboys and he has 80 tackles, 2.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery in those appearances.
Donovan Ezeiruaku is also in the mix at outside linebacker while Jadeveon Clowney, Dante Fowler, Sam Williams, and Payton Turner are all set for free agency. The Cowboys could bring some of those players back, but they have work to do to flesh out the defensive personnel whether they do that or not.
