The NFL set the 2026 salary cap at $301.2 million on Friday and they also revealed the franchise and transition tag numbers that teams will be able to use on their own free agents.
The Cowboys will be using the non-exclusive tag on wide receiver George Pickens and that will carry a salary of $27.298 million for the coming season. Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts has also been tagged and the team will owe him $15.045 million if he plays out the year under the tag.
Non-exclusive tags are set at the higher of the sum of the previous five franchise tags at a player’s position divided by the salary caps for those years or 120 percent of the player’s salary from the previous season. Players who receive that tag can sign offer sheets with other clubs and their original team receives two first-round picks if they choose not to match the offer.
Exclusive franchise tags are also available. The salary is set at the greater of the top five salaries at their position for the previous year or the non-exclusive amount and players who receive that tag cannot negotiate with other clubs.
No players have received a transition tag at this point, but there is some speculation that the Jets will use it for running back Breece Hall. That amount would be $11.323 million, which is derived from the average of the top 10 prior year salaries. Teams can match any offer sheets for players on transition tags, but they do not receive any compensation for choosing not to match.
The non-exclusive franchise tag and transition tag amounts for each position are:
Quarterback: $43.895 million (franchise), $37.833 million (transition)
Running Back: $14.293 million, $11.323 million
Wide Receiver: $27.298 million, $23.852 million
Tight End: $15.045 million, $12.687 million
Offensive Line: $25.773 million, $23.392 million
Defensive End: $24.434 million, $21.512 million
Defensive Tackle: $27.127 million, $22.521 million
Linebacker: $26.865 million, $21.925 million
Cornerback: $21.161 million, $18.119 million
Safety: $20.149 million, $16.012 million
Kicker/Punter: $6.649 million, $6.005 million
The Falcons have fired assistant defensive line coach LaTroy Lewis.
The team issued a statement on Friday morning saying that they were aware of an allegation of violence against a woman against Lewis and that they were “in the process of gathering information” about the incident. The team followed that up by announcing that they have dismissed Lewis on Friday afternoon.
Lewis was an assistant coach at Michigan at the time of the alleged violence and Marc Raimondi of ESPN.com reports that the Ann Arbor Police Department has opened an investigation into those allegations.
Lewis was hired by the Falcons earlier this year. He coached at Michigan in 2023 and 2024 and spent the 2025 on Toledo’s staff.
The Falcons say they are gathering information about an allegation of violence against a woman by assistant defensive line coach LaTroy Lewis.
“We are aware of allegations regarding LaTroy Lewis,” the Falcons said in a statement. “We are in the process of gathering information and will have no further comment at this time.”
The Falcons’ statement comes after social media posts from reporter Justin Spiro detailed allegations of violence that a woman made against Lewis. The allegations stem from Lewis’s time as an assistant coach at Michigan, where he worked in 2023 and 2024.
The 32-year-old Lewis had a brief NFL playing career and has coached at the college level since 2020. The Falcons hired him as assistant defensive line coach this month.
The Falcons have informed wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge that they are releasing him, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
Hodge went on injured reserve in December with a shoulder injury.
In 12 games last season, Hodge totaled three receptions for 31 yards on offense and nine tackles on special teams. He played 10 percent of the Falcons’ offensive snaps and 72 percent of the special teams snaps in the games he played.
Hodge earned Pro Bowl honors in 2024 for his special teams play.
He spent four seasons with the Falcons after one season with the Rams (2018), two with the Browns (2019-20) and one with the Lions (2021).
The NFL’s Rooney Rule calls for teams that develop minority executives or coaches to receive a pair of third-round picks when they move on to other clubs as General Managers and head coaches, but the Bears are currently not expected to receive those compensatory selections after Ian Cunningham left the team to become the GM in Atlanta.
According to the NFL, the Bears are not getting those picks because president of football Matt Ryan is the top football executive in Atlanta. Ryan said earlier this month that Cunningham is the one “driving the ship” and Cunningham said at a Scouting Combine press conference on Tuesday that the Bears should be getting picks based on his understanding of the rule.
“I haven’t had much time to really dive into the wording of it,” Cunningham said. “It was always my interpretation that if a general manager gets hired, that team would receive two third-round picks. I’m the General Manager. I was hired. I would think that they would get two third-round picks. I don’t know the wording of it. That’s just my perspective. I wouldn’t be sitting here if it weren’t for them giving me that job and helping me grow to get this job right now.”
Bears GM Ryan Poles called it “a little odd” that the Chiefs got picks when he was hired in Chicago and called the entire rule “strange,” but that it is also “very clear” that the Bears should be receiving those picks in the current situation.
