One of the NFL owners’ favorite and the players’ least-favorite provisions in the two parties’ collective bargaining agreement is the concept of the franchise tag. The tag, which gives teams the ability to retain exclusive negotiation rights with one departing unrestricted free agent per season, gives a player a one-year salary near the top of his position group’s value while the team attempts to come to a new long-term contract with said player.
In 2020, with the CBA talks ongoing and the NFLPA currently voting on the proposed deal, tags are particularly intriguing. If the players reject the deal, each team could use two tags on players if they so choose.