The default franchise tag that pays the higher of the average of the top 5 salaries at the player's position or 120% of the player's prior salary. Other teams may sign the player, but must surrender two first-round picks as compensation.
The non-exclusive franchise tag is the most commonly applied version of the franchise tag. When a team places this tag on a player, it must offer a one-year contract at the greater of (a) the average of the top five salaries at the player's position or (b) 120% of the player's previous year salary. The player and team can still negotiate a long-term deal before the mid-July deadline. Unlike the exclusive franchise tag, this version allows other teams to negotiate with the tagged player and submit an offer sheet. However, the original team has five days to match any offer. If they decline to match, the signing team must forfeit two first-round draft picks to the original team. This steep compensation cost makes it extremely rare for teams to actually sign away a non-exclusive franchise-tagged player. In practice, the non-exclusive tag functions almost identically to the exclusive tag because no team wants to give up two first-round picks. The main strategic difference is that it gives the tagged player slightly more leverage in negotiations, since a theoretical outside offer exists.
In 2024, the Cowboys placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on QB Dak Prescott, setting his tag value at approximately $55 million for the season. Despite being technically free to negotiate with other teams, the two-first-round-pick compensation requirement kept other teams away, and Prescott eventually signed a long-term deal with Dallas.
Category: Free Agency & Tags. Part of the StickToTheModel NFL Encyclopedia.