Dallas Cowboys receiver George Pickens signed his 2026 franchise tag for $27.3 million in April. That number did not come from a negotiation between his agent and the Cowboys. It came out of a formula written into the collective bargaining agreement, one that pulls from five years of salary data at his position and this year’s salary cap.
The tag salary equals whichever figure is higher: the position’s “Cap Percentage Average,” or 120 percent of the player’s own prior-year salary. For a tagged veteran coming off a big season, the Cap Percentage Average almost always wins, since it reflects what the position’s top earners have actually been paid recently rather than one player’s prior contract.
How the Cap Percentage Average Gets Built
Per NFL Football Operations, the league adds up the franchise tag figures paid at a given position over the previous five league years, divides that sum by the total of the salary caps over those same five years, and multiplies the resulting percentage by the upcoming season’s cap. Quarterback numbers run highest because quarterback tags have historically eaten the biggest share of the cap. Every position gets its own average, which is why a tagged left tackle and a tagged safety land on completely different salaries even though both are technically playing under “the tag.”
Exclusive Tags Leave No Way Out
Teams choose between two versions of the standard tag. The non-exclusive tag lets the player negotiate with other clubs. If he signs an offer sheet elsewhere, his original team has five days to match it. Decline to match, and the original team gets two first-round draft picks as compensation. The exclusive tag removes that option entirely: the player cannot even talk to other teams, and his salary is set at the greater of the five-largest prior-year salaries at his position or the non-exclusive number.
Atlanta used the non-exclusive version on tight end Kyle Pitts in February 2026, tagging him near $15 million before the two sides worked out a three-year, $54 million extension ahead of the July 15 deadline. That is the more common outcome; most tags function as a bridge to a long-term deal rather than a full season under the tender, which is closer to what Pickens is doing after the Cowboys said they would not extend him this year.
Can a Tagged Player Be Traded?
Yes, but only after he signs the tender. Until then he technically has no contract with his own team, so there is nothing for another franchise to trade for. Once he signs, the two clubs can work out compensation between themselves. Trades involving tagged players do happen, though rarely before July, since most front offices spend the spring trying to extend the player rather than move him.
The Transition Tag Costs Less, and Comes With No Compensation
A cheaper, less-used option sits next to the franchise tag. The transition tag pays the greater of the top-10 average at the position, using the same Cap Percentage Average math, or 120 percent of the player’s own prior-year salary, and it typically lands below the franchise number. Indianapolis applied it to quarterback Daniel Jones in 2026. The tradeoff for the discount is that the original team gets no draft compensation if it declines to match a rival offer, only the right of first refusal, and a transition player left unsigned by July 21 can only negotiate with the team that tagged him for the rest of that year.
A Second or Third Tag Gets Expensive Fast
The league built in an escalator to keep teams from tagging the same player indefinitely. A second consecutive tag costs 120 percent of the player’s previous tag salary, or the current year’s tag number at his position if that is higher. A third tag jumps again, to the greatest of the quarterback tag figure, 120 percent of the position’s top-five prior-year average, or 144 percent of the player’s second tag salary. Few players ever reach a third tag; the number gets hard for any front office to justify on a one-year deal, and it usually pushes both sides toward a long-term contract or an open-market departure instead.
Teams that want to avoid stacking tags often lean on other cap tools, including the void years explained in What Is a Void Year in an NFL Contract?, which let a club spread a signing bonus across seasons a player may never play. The tag decision gets made in February and March, months before front offices face the roster-trimming choices covered in Cutdown Day: How NFL Roster Cuts Actually Work, but it shapes the cap sheet those later decisions fit inside.
The 2026 window to apply tags ran from February 17 through 4 p.m. ET on March 3. Four players ended up tagged: Pickens, Pitts, Jones, and Jets running back Breece Hall. Pickens is the only one still playing on the tender itself once camp opened, which makes his $27.3 million salary the cleanest real-world look at what the formula produces once a season gets underway.
