NFL franchise tag deadline winners, losers: Which players, teams fared best?

NFL teams had until Tuesday to dole out franchise tags, and a few organizations decided to take action. But who made out best in the moves?

The NFL’s annual game of tag has come to an end – and four guys are it.

The league’s deadline to apply franchise and transition tags, mechanisms designed to reward pending free agents while simultaneously hindering their ability to test the market, expired March 3 at 4 p.m. ET. Aside from Jets RB Breece Hall, Colts QB Daniel Jones, Cowboys WR George Pickens and Falcons TE Kyle Pitts, every other NFL player on an expiring contract is now free to test the free agent market – its negotiating window set to open March 9 (new deals can be signed March 11).

As for those who got tagged? Some will win, some will lose, some are born to sing the blues:

The Colts quarterback – at least until he ruptured his Achilles last December – received the transition tag Tuesday, the first QB to get one since 1996. And while it stands to reason Indy will find a way to keep a quarterback who had a career year in 2025, despite the injury, and had revitalized the club to that point, this development is also pretty good news for Jones. The tag ensures Jones will make $37.8 million in 2026 … if he plays on it. But given the Colts wouldn’t receive any compensation if another team tries to pry Jones away – little reason for other teams not to consider offer sheets that could only escalate his market in a year when QBs should be in high demand.

Jones’ primary deep threat in Indy, Pierce avoided the tag after the Colts were compelled to use it on the quarterback. A second-round pick by Indianapolis in 2022, Pierce has led the NFL in yards per catch each of the past two seasons and is coming off his first 1,000-yard receiving campaign. Decent chance he re-signs with the Colts … better chance he takes the opportunity to fully explore his market first given he could make north of $20 million annually.