From 2015-24, the NFL saw five or more franchise tags placed on players each of those offseasons. A total of five tags were used the past two years.
The deadline to tag players in 2026 passed Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.
Only three teams used a franchise tag, with Jets running back Breece Hall, Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens and Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts tagged as non-exclusive franchise players. In 2025, Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins and Chiefs offensive guard Trey Smith were the only players tagged.
The only other time two or fewer players were tagged was 1994, the first year of the franchise tag, when Pittsburgh tight end Eric Green and Vikings defensive tackle Henry Thomas received their team’s franchise tag.
The Colts placed the transition tag on quarterback Daniel Jones on Tuesday.
Teams will have until July 15 to work out a long-term deal with tagged players, or the players will play on the tag for 2026.
Nick Folk had a strong 2025 season with the Jets and the 41-year-old kicker isn’t planning to walk away from the NFL.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that Folk plans to play a 19th season in 2026. Folk is set to become a free agent next week.
Folk played for the Jets from 2010-2016 and returned to the team last year. He was 28-of-29 on field goals and has led the league in field goal percentage the last three years while missing just three kicks. Folk is also 47-of-47 on extra points over the last two seasons.
That record should serve Folk well as he looks for a spot to play in 2026.
The Jets have placed the franchise tag on running back Breece Hall.
Hall was slated to become an unrestricted free agent next week, but the tag means the Jets are planning to hold onto him.
If Hall wants to, he can now sign a one-year, $14.293 million contract for the Jets to play for them in 2026 and then hit free agency again in 2027, or get franchised again, which would increase his salary to $17.152 million.
Or Hall can continue to negotiate a long-term contract with the Jets. A deal beyond 2026 would have to get done by the July 15 deadline; otherwise he can only sign a one-year contract this year.
The Jets could also work out a trade with another team that wants Hall and is willing to pay him what he’s asking for. Or another team could sign Hall to an offer sheet, but in that case, if the Jets didn’t match the offer, the team would have to send the Jets two first-round draft picks. Which means it’s not going to happen.
Most likely, Hall and the Jets will work something out, and he’ll remain with them in 2026 and beyond.
The NFL is a deadline-driven business. And an important annual deadline arrives today.
The two-week window for applying the franchise or transition tag closes at 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
There’s really no reason for a two-week period. All that matters is the end, not the beginning. And while there’s some value in applying the tag before the Scouting Combine as a way to short-circuit tampering efforts, only two teams put the word out before things got rolling in Indianapolis that key players would be off-limits — Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts Sr. and Cowboys receiver George Pickens.
Will there be more? Obviously, if any will happen, it will happen today.
The players to watch are Colts quarterback Daniel Jones (and, if they work out a deal with him today, Colts receiver Alec Pierce), Jets running back Breece Hall, and Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson.
If no additional tags are applied, it will be the second straight year with only two. And the two applied in 2025 were the fewest since 2006.
Time will tell. And the clock is ticking. We’ll know at 4:00 p.m. ET who is, and isn’t, blocked from the open market by the franchise or transition tag.
Everyone expects the Raiders to take Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft. The No. 2 pick is where the draft gets interesting.
Ohio State edge rusher Arvell Reese is currently the favorite to go with the No. 2 pick, which is owned by the Jets. Reese’s odds to go second overall are -140.
The next-best odds are for Texas Tech outside linebacker David Bailey, at +160, followed by Miami defensive end Rueben Bain at +800, Ohio State safety Caleb Downs at +1400 and Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles at +1500.
An interesting long shot is Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson at +4000. Most draft analysts don’t view Simpson as the kind of talent worthy of the second overall pick, but the Jets desperately need a quarterback, and if they think Simpson is going to be an NFL starter, he might make sense as the pick at No. 2.
