The NFL informed teams in a memo on Friday that the salary cap for the 2024 season will skyrocket to $255.4 million, a staggering 13.6% jump over where the cap was last year. In accordance with that spike, the league also announced the franchise and transition tag values at each position for next season.
Those values are as follows:
| Position | Franchise Tag | Transition Tag |
|---|---|---|
| QB | $38,301,000 | $34,367,000 |
| RB | $11,951,000 | $9,765,000 |
| WR | $21,816,000 | $19,766,000 |
| TE | $12,693,000 | $10,878,000 |
| OL | $20,985,000 | $19,040,000 |
| DE | $21,324,000 | $19,076,000 |
| DT | $22,102,000 | $18,491,000 |
| LB | $24,007,000 | $19,971,000 |
| CB | $19,802,000 | $17,215,000 |
| S | $17,123,000 | $13,815,000 |
| K/P | $5,984,000 | $5,433,000 |
It's worth noting that there are two types of franchise tags.
The exclusive franchise tag guarantees the player a one-year salary of the five highest-paid players at his position during that current season, or 120% of his previous salary, whichever is higher; and it prevents him from negotiating a contract with any other team.
The non-exclusive tag guarantees the player a one-year salary of the five highest-paid players at his position from the previous five years (applied to the current salary cap), or 120% of his previous salary, whichever is higher, and also allows that player to negotiate with other teams, who would have to surrender two first-round picks in addition to whatever contract they agree on with the player in question. The non-exclusive tag is the one that teams almost always use, and those are the values you see above.
Additionally, a player can be tagged multiple times. Each time he is tagged, the tag value goes up. A player being tagged for the second consecutive season is paid 120% of his previous year's salary. A player tagged for a third year in a row receives 120% of the average of the five highest-paid players at his position, 144% of his previous year's salary, or the average of the five highest-paid position players in the league, whichever is highest.
The transition tag, meanwhile, is valued is the average of the 10 highest-paid players at a given player's position over the previous five seasons, applied to the current salary cap. A player given to the transition tag is free to negotiate with other teams and, if he agrees to a contract, the tagging team has the right to match the deal. If the team matches, the player must sign with the team that matched. But if the team doesn't match, the player is free to leave and the tagging team receives no compensation. For that reason, it is much rarer for the transition tag to be used.
As our Jeff Kerr wrote earlier this week, tag candidates include Ravens DT Justin Madubuike, Panthers DE Brian Burns, Bears CB Jaylon Johnson, Bengals WR Tee Higgins, Cowboys RB Tony Pollard, Texans TE Dalton Schultz, Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr., Jaguars DE Josh Allen, Chiefs CB L'Jarius Sneed or DT Chris Jones, Chargers RB Austin Ekeler, Dolphins DT Christian Wilkins, Vikings QB Kirk Cousins, Giants RB Saquon Barkley, Seahawks DT Leonard Williams, and Buccaneers WR Mike Evans, among potentially others.
