With three weeks to go until the start of free agency, one of the first major dates on the NFL offseason calendar has arrived. Starting today, teams can use the franchise tag to keep pending free agents from entering the open market.
The different kinds of franchise tags and their usage will be mentioned quite a bit over the next three weeks and leading into the new league year. What exactly does it all mean for the league and the New England Patriots alike, however? How do the franchise and transition tags work in the first place?