Inside: Your primer on the NFL’s franchise tag: how it works these days, why one star is likely to receive it and its controversial history. Plus, meet the league’s youngest staff members.
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Higgins expected to be tagged, again
Yesterday, shortly before the NFL franchise-tag window opened, Sports Illustrated reported the Bengals plan to place their non-exclusive franchise tag on 26-year-old WR Tee Higgins, with the hopes of then signing him to a long-term deal.
That also happened last year, but this time feels different. As beat reporter Paul Dehner Jr. has said all season, the Bengals’ dearth of talent makes it possible to afford keeping their young trio of Higgins, Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase together.
Paul also noted that neither the Bengals nor Higgins are interested in another tag season: “Trying to force him to do it again would cause irreparable harm to the culture and dynamics of the team.” That includes the team’s relationship with Burrow.
“We came in together, and we’ve built this thing from the ground up,” the quarterback said after Cincy’s Week 18 game. “Tee is a great player and a guy that does everything the right way.”
On the field, Burrow reached elite levels with Higgins in 2024 (the WR missed five full games):
If tagged, Higgins’ 2025 cap hit projects to be $26.2 million. If they instead agree on an extension, Spotrac estimates it would be similar to Brandon Aiyuk’s last offseason (four years, $120 million).
Not cheap, especially with Chase also expecting a mega-extension that projects around four years, $145 million, plus Burrow’s cap hit at $46.2 million for 2025 and growing until 2029.
But having entered the offseason ranked 11th in cap room and with Burrow willing to restructure, the Bengals have the money. The question is whether they have the appetite.
Is there an argument for moving on? As we’ve noted, Paul has said it would be the correct football move, due to the WR’s seemingly never-ending nagging injuries. Higgins has only played 54 percent of the team’s offensive snaps the past two seasons and hasn’t played more than 12 games since 2022.
However, when your franchise quarterback says “you just can’t let [Higgins] get out of the building,” you listen, especially when he’s making more than the entire organization. (No, seriously, Burrow’s APY of $55 million is greater than the Bengals’ most recent profits of $42 million, per CNBC.)
Despite wanting a long-term contract last offseason, Higgins attended training camp to avoid the drama. Last month, he told reporters, “I’m tired of seeing my name, speculating on the internet.” Unfortunately for him, a franchise tag would keep the internet guessing.
To make sure we’re all refreshed on the topic, let’s talk about how the franchise tag works, using Higgins as a reference.
How franchise tags work
Each year, any NFL team can assign one player a one-year, guaranteed contract. Refusal to sign means an unpaid season, which is probably why former holdout Le’Veon Bell was boxing at age 32.
There are two categories of franchise tags, plus another:
Exclusive: If Higgins signs this, the CBA requires the Bengals to pay him the greater of a 20 percent premium on his 2024 salary or the average of the five highest 2024 receiver salaries. (Unless he agrees to an extension before July 15, which he could only do with Cincinnati.)
Non-exclusive: This would allow Higgins to negotiate with other teams, though if he accepted a deal elsewhere, the Bengals would have the right to match that offer. If they declined to match it, they’d receive two first-round picks from his new team. No player on a non-exclusive tag has been poached since 2000 (Joey Galloway to the Cowboys), though many have been traded.
There’s also the transition tag. Slightly lower salary, non-exclusive and right to match, but no draft compensation if the player leaves. It helps teams avoid overpaying market rates.
Of the nine players tagged last offseason, only Higgins ended up playing the season on the tag, and no quarterbacks were tagged. Alec Lewis explained why Minnesota transition-tagging Sam Darnold could be sensible, which could make him the first QB to play on the tag in years.
That last part is not how the rule was intended to work. When the system was originally developed, the NFLPA’s former head lawyer, Jim Quinn, “never thought it would ever apply to any other player (other than a quarterback).” That gives us a good excuse to review the tag’s history.
Franchise tag controversy
Controversy around the franchise tag goes back to its formation in late 1992, when a former Broncos owner refused to sign the 1993 CBA, which introduced free agency, because he feared it would mean John Elway leaving.
But the subsequent “Elway Rule,” officially the franchise tag, quickly also became “the prison tag,” as one agent put it.
Since 1998, when Ravens guard Wally Williams became the first non-quarterback to be tagged, there were many important moments involving the tag. Here are three:
Positional value: In 2014, Saints TE Jimmy Graham filed a grievance, arguing that since he played more like a wide receiver, lining up out wide or in the slot on 67 percent of his snaps, he was owed $5.3 million in additional salary. It was complicated, but he lost. There are also no distinctions between the pay for different OL or LB positions.
Consecutive tags: Seahawks Hall of Fame OT Walter Jones was tagged in three consecutive offseasons before receiving a seven-year, $52.5 million deal. Shortly after, the 2006 CBA amended the rule to make the cost of tagging a player for a third time prohibitive. A few years later, Saints QB Drew Brees won a grievance, clarifying that the three-tag barrier applies even if the player has changed teams.
Poison pills: In 2006, those tag-happy Seahawks used a transition tag on All-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson. The Vikings offered him a seven-year deal, specifying that his $49 million would become guaranteed if he weren’t the highest-paid OL on his team. To keep him, the Seahawks would’ve had to match that exact offer, nearly impossible since they’d just signed Jones’ $52.5 million deal. Hutchinson went on to make four Pro Bowls in Minnesota, and shenanigans like this have since been outlawed.
The tag has often been a nuisance, but it can also be beneficial, as it combines with the NFL’s salary-cap floor to make more money available to non-stars. For more, read Mark Puleo and Mike Jones’ complete explainer on the franchise tag.
Over to Dianna.
What Dianna’s Hearing: Two Texans get their money back
League sources told me yesterday that Texans running back Joe Mixon and edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. won their appeals of the $25,000 fines they received for criticizing officials after Houston’s divisional-round loss to the Chiefs.
Mixon’s fine was particularly strange. His agent, Peter Schaffer, said the league’s initial communication had misattributed to Mixon a comment actually made by former Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh on social media.
The comments that were (previously considered) offending:
- Mixon: “Everybody knows how it is playing up here. You can never leave it into the refs’ hands. The whole world sees, man, what it is, bro. But it is what it is.”
- Anderson: “We knew it was going to be us against the refs going into this game.”
Back to you, Jacob.
Meet the youngest stars outside the field
Covering an entertainment product that encompasses much more than what happens on the field, The Athletic spent a year monitoring 100 rising coaches, executives and NFL personnel for our “50 under 40” list. Today, Jourdan Rodrigue and Mike Jones shared their findings. The six youngest stood out to me:
- David Blough, 29, Commanders assistant QBs coach and former Lions QB
- Grant Udinski, 29, now Jacksonville OC after working with Sam Darnold in 2024
- Davis Webb, 30, Broncos QBs coach, handpicked by Sean Payton to work with Bo Nix
- Nick Rallis, 31, Cardinals DC who spent two years coaching Eagles linebackers
- Christian Carter, 31, former Seton Hill player now with an agent for Coaches Inc.
- Moses Anoh, 31, CEO of content creator Blitzfits and former NFLPA employee
Feel old yet? Check out the full list, which includes familiar names like Jason Kelce, Sean McVay and … just making the cut, the 39-year-old Greg Olsen.
Around the NFL
The Panthers gave QB Andy Dalton, 37, a two-year, $8 million extension with $6 million guaranteed. With Bryce Young entering year three, it’s a great deal for Carolina to keep one of the league’s best backups.
Packers RB Josh Jacobs made headlines when he said Green Bay needed a proven No. 1 receiver. With Christian Watson expected to miss the majority of 2025, beat reporter Matt Schneidman examines whom that receiver might be, with this list including D.K. Metcalf.
The 2025 draft sports an outstanding tight end class, starting with Penn State’s Tyler Warren and Michigan’s Colston Loveland. Nick Baumgardner notes both could go in the top 15. They are two of the prospects who will shape this year’s first round.
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(Photo: Wesley Hitt, JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images)
