NFL Free Agent Rules

Free Agency in the National Football League is the system under which players with expired contracts are able to move from team to team. The rules that determine which players are eligible to move and under what terms are set in the league's collective bargaining agreement between the team owners and the players' union. They have established a complex set of guidelines that includes a number of different categories of free agents.

  1. Unrestricted Free Agent

    • A player who is released from his contract by his current team or one whose contract term ends when he has been in the league for at least four years is designated as an unrestricted free agent. That classification allows him to sign with any other team in the league and gives his former team no compensation when he does. He can begin negotiating with other teams on March 2. His former team can maintain some control by offering him a contract for at least a set minimum salary by the first day of training camp in July. If that happens and he has not signed elsewhere by that date, the right to sign him goes back to the former team until the 10th week of the football season in November.

    Restricted Free Agent

    • A player who has just three years experience in the league, but is sitting on an expired contract, is not free to sign with any team and move on. He is classified as a restricted free agent. If his former team makes an offer that meets the defined standard as a fair qualifying offer, the player has the time period between March 2 and April 15 to find a better offer. If he does, then his former team can match that offer and keep him at that amount or it can let him go. If he gets no other offers, then he plays with his former team for the qualifying offer amount.

    Franchise Tag

    • Each NFL team is allowed to have one player on its roster at a time who it has designated as its "franchise player". This is a rule that was put in place to help teams keep their top players instead of losing them to free agency. When the franchise tag is invoked, the player stays with his existing team under a contract that pays him the amount of the average salary of the top five players in the league who play the same position.

    Transitional Player

    • The transitional player is another free agent designation that helps teams keep existing players on the roster. The team guarantees a contract that meets or exceeds the average of the top 10 salaries of other players who play the same position, and then if that player gets another offer, the former team has seven days to decide to match the higher number or let the player go. If there are not better offers, the player is entitled to stay with the salary of the transition player offer.

    Exclusive Rights Free Agent

    • An exclusive rights free agent is not able to go out and negotiate with another team unless his current team releases him to do so. This group of players has two or fewer years in the league, but has an expired contract. The existing team must only make a minimum offer and the player is obligated to accept it or choose to sit out the season.