NFL franchise-tag deadline arrives with rare quiet as only Pitts and Pickens get tagged

The NFL’s franchise-tag deadline has usually meant a surge of transactions and tense eleventh-hour negotiations. This year, the league’s transaction wire is nearly silent.

As the 2026 franchise- and transition-tag window closes at 4 p.m. Eastern on Monday, only two players — Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts and Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens — have been tagged. Several high-profile pending free agents, most notably Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, are expected to reach the open market untouched.

It is the second straight offseason in which teams have used the tag on just two players, a dramatic shift for a mechanism that has shaped NFL contract battles for three decades.

A record-low trend, again

From 2019 through 2024, clubs placed an average of roughly nine franchise tags per year, never dipping below six in a single offseason. In 2024, eight players received the tag and one more was given the transition tag. In 2025, the number fell to two — Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins and Kansas City Chiefs guard Trey Smith — the fewest since the system was introduced in 1993. Barring a late rush before Monday’s deadline, 2026 will match that record low.

The timing underscores a change in how front offices treat a tool that, by design, allows teams to prevent a pending free agent from reaching the open market by binding him to a one-year guaranteed contract.

How the franchise tag works — and why it’s getting harder to use

Under league rules, each team may apply one franchise or transition tag per offseason. The nonexclusive franchise tag, by far the most common, guarantees a one-year salary based on the average of the top five salaries at the player’s position over the previous five seasons or 120% of his prior year’s pay, whichever is greater. The player can negotiate with other teams, but his original club has the right to match any offer or receive two first-round draft picks as compensation.

The numbers involved have grown with the salary cap. With the 2026 cap projected to exceed $300 million per team, estimated tag values for this year run into the tens of millions of dollars at most positions: roughly $44 million to $47 million for quarterbacks, close to $28 million for wide receivers and into the mid-20s to low-30s for defensive ends and edge rushers. Even at tight end, the projected tag value is in the $16 million range.

Atlanta bets on Kyle Pitts as it rebuilds around Penix

For the Falcons, that price point was acceptable to ensure Pitts did not leave.

Atlanta placed the nonexclusive tag on Pitts on Feb. 24, during the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. The move marked only the fourth time in franchise history that the team has used any form of the franchise tag, a list that also includes punter Michael Koenen in 2009, cornerback Brent Grimes in 2012 and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett in 2019.

General manager Ian Cunningham, hired in late January, framed the decision as both a commitment and a bridge.

“We’re not in the business of letting go really good players,” Cunningham told reporters at the combine.

He added that, given the short time since his arrival, the tag “was in the best interest of us … to allow us more time to evaluate and see things forward.”

Pitts, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 draft, delivered more than 1,000 receiving yards and a Pro Bowl appearance as a rookie. His production dipped amid injuries and offensive instability over the next three seasons, but he rebounded in 2025 with 88 receptions for 928 yards and five touchdowns, earning second-team All-Pro honors and ranking among the league leaders at his position.

The Falcons’ decision to tag Pitts comes as they retool around quarterback Michael Penix Jr., wide receiver Drake London and running back Bijan Robinson under new head coach Kevin Stefanski, whose Cleveland offenses frequently featured tight ends as primary targets. The tag keeps Pitts in that core while giving both sides until July 15 to negotiate a multiyear extension; otherwise, he would play 2026 on the one-year tender.

Dallas tags George Pickens after a breakout season

In Dallas, the Cowboys used their tag on Pickens, who is coming off a breakout 2025 season with 93 catches for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns. The move prevents a 24-year-old receiver with All-Pro credentials from reaching free agency and preserves a high-end tandem with CeeDee Lamb, though it pushes a projected $28 million charge onto the 2026 salary cap if no long-term deal is completed.

Cincinnati, meanwhile, appears ready to let Trey Hendrickson hit free agency

Where Atlanta and Dallas acted to keep ascending pass-catchers, Cincinnati appears prepared to move in the opposite direction with an established pass rusher.

Hendrickson, who led the NFL with 17½ sacks in 2024, is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the Bengals reworked his contract last August. That revision increased his 2025 compensation to as much as $30 million but did not add future years, setting up a decision point this offseason.

An edge-rusher tag for 2026 is projected at more than $30 million. Team executive Duke Tobin did not rule out using the tag when he spoke at the combine but signaled the difficulty of going down that path, particularly on a tag-and-trade scenario sometimes used by clubs seeking value for star players they do not plan to keep.

“I don’t throw anything on or off the table with Trey,” Tobin said. “We have resources to attack the offseason in a big way.”

Asked about tagging and trading him, Tobin added: “All trades are difficult … that hypothetical scenario would be very complicated.”

National and local reports in recent days have indicated the Bengals are unlikely to tag Hendrickson, positioning the 31-year-old to reach free agency as one of the top defensive players available. Cincinnati would then likely rely on younger, cheaper edge rushers such as former first-round pick Myles Murphy, with the possibility of a future compensatory draft pick if Hendrickson signs elsewhere.

Why teams may be moving away from tags

The contrast between Atlanta’s and Dallas’ use of the tag on offensive weapons, and Cincinnati’s stance on an elite edge rusher, reflects a broader reconsideration of positional value and risk.

Teams are weighing whether a one-year, fully guaranteed salary at or near the very top of the market is an efficient way to allocate resources, especially for older players or those with recent injury histories. For clubs with cap flexibility, a long-term contract can be structured to spread cap hits over several years, include injury protections and give both sides more certainty.

The franchise tag, meanwhile, remains unpopular among players and their union. The NFL’s own descriptions acknowledge that it is a powerful management tool that limits player movement and restrains what the open market would otherwise dictate. High-profile standoffs in past years — including drawn-out negotiations and short holdouts involving tagged stars at quarterback, defensive line and safety — have underscored the tension that can accompany its use.

The recent decline in actual tags does not mean the device has lost all influence. Agents and team negotiators continue to model extension talks against what a tag would cost and what leverage it would give a club. But the back-to-back years of minimal usage suggest that, in the current economic environment, teams are more willing than before to let premier players test free agency, confident they can replace production through the draft, trades or targeted signings.

What it means for the start of free agency

That shift will shape the coming weeks. With the negotiating period for unrestricted free agents set to open March 9 and the new league year beginning March 11 at 4 p.m. Eastern, a deeper pool of top-end talent is expected to be available than in many recent offseasons.

Pitts and Pickens will not be part of that group. Hendrickson likely will. For a mechanism created to provide stability and keep franchise players in place, the franchise tag is increasingly notable for where it is not being used — and for the quiet at the deadline that once defined the NFL’s offseason calendar.