The NFL’s free agency period is set to kick off on Monday, with a 52-hour legal tampering window preceding the official start of the new league year on Wednesday. Notable players such as quarterbacks Russell Wilson, Sam Darnold, and Justin Fields will have the opportunity to sign with new teams.
During this legal tampering period, which begins at 12 p.m. EDT on Monday, teams are allowed to negotiate with players who will become unrestricted free agents once their contracts expire at the start of the new league year at 4 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. However, players cannot officially sign with new teams until the league year commences. This negotiating period only applies to players who will be unrestricted free agents.
Unrestricted free agents are players with four or more accrued seasons, who have the freedom to negotiate and sign with any team once their contracts expire. On the other hand, restricted free agents are players with three accrued seasons who have received a qualifying offer from their current team.
Teams have the option to designate one potential free agent as a franchise player, granting them exclusive negotiating rights. Only Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins and Chiefs guard Trey Smith were tagged as franchise players this year. A franchise player can either be exclusive, preventing them from signing with another team, or non-exclusive, allowing them to negotiate with other teams but requiring two first-round draft picks as compensation.
Additionally, there is the transition tag, which offers a one-year contract based on the average of the top 10 salaries at the player’s position. The original club has the right of first refusal to match any offers the player receives. This year, no players received the transition tag.
The salary cap for the 2025 season is set at $279.2 million per club, an increase from the previous year. Teams must ensure they are under the salary cap by 4 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. Furthermore, teams can carry over unused salary cap space from one year to the next, with a deadline for submission to the NFL before the team’s final regular-season game.
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