Before NFL free agency begins, teams are allowed to apply franchise tags to players from Feb. 18 through March 4 to give them a sense of what they need to do before the league year starts March 12.
What is the franchise tag? It is a designation teams can apply to a player scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent, and it binds the player to the team for one season. Franchise tag figures are based on the top five salaries at each position.
Last season, nine players were tagged. Among them was Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins -- who is eligible to be tagged again this season.