NFL: How the NFL Free Agency works

Super Bowl LII is almost behind us and the teams are already working on concrete plans for the coming season. From the beginning of March, the traditional competition for the players on the open market starts. Who pulls the big fish ashore and what do the other boys do? SPOX guides you through the entire Free-Agency phase and summarizes everything you need to know. Let’s start with the SPOX Live-Ticker for the start of the negotiation phase on 12. March!

It is not often the case that players in the NFL itself have the opportunity to decide for which team and in which city they want to play. In the Free Agency this is at least partly the case: Here, the players whose contract has just expired or who were there without a contract anyway, can obtain different offers and weigh up on the basis of which jersey color it should be as next gladly.

Since the interest of the various fan communities is of course very high, if the local franchise can attract a good player to land another team without giving any value, the Free Agency offers great nutrients for the rumor mill. Some of the announcements turn out to be too much and teams have the chance to get a completely new face in one fell swoop.

Already in the last few years there have been new commitments, which allowed franchises to play for the Vince-Lombardi Trophy in one fell swoop. The best examples are Peyton Manning, who joined the Denver Broncos in 2012 or Drew Brees, whose services were secured by the New Orleans Saints in 2006.

The starting signal for the Free Agency is on 14. March at 10 pm German time. At this point in time, the 2017 season comes to an end, while the 2018 season officially begins. So the old working papers expire and players who only had a valid contract including the 2017 season can now talk to other teams.

Players who are currently without a contract will be referred to as “free agents” and may now join a new team. But there are still some differences, more about that.

Before 12. However, no consultant is allowed to enter into negotiations with other teams until March 1. Until now, the former team still has the opportunity to keep players who have not agreed to a new contract, for example by means of the franchise or transition tag. However, the deadline for this is already the 6th. March. All Offseason dates can be found here at a glance.

With the 12. March opens the negotiation window for the advisors of all players whose contract expires.

However, not every player whose contract expires is automatically and unrestrictedly on the free market. The NFL distinguishes between Unrestricted and Restricted Free Agents. The former are actually the players who, at the start of the new league year, no longer have any contractual ties to their former team and can look for a new team on the market without any restrictions. These players can change teams without any compensation for their previous team.

This works differently with restricted free agents. In general, a Restricted Free Agent is a player whose contract expires without having at least four accrued seasons. This is usually the case for Undrafted Free Agents, which only receive contracts for three years. Drafted players usually sign for four years.

A player who has spent more than ten matches of a season on the Non-Football-Injury-List (the PUP-List or the Injured Reserve are not included here, it is primarily about injuries outside of the sport) will not be counted as accrued season.

Exactly this was the subject of the dispute between A. J. McCarron and the Cincinnati Bengals, which the quarterback finally won. McCarron apparently could prove that he was still on the Non-Football Injury list in his rookie season, although he was actually fit enough for the active squad.

So, if a player has three or less accrued seasons when his contract expires and then receives an offer from his team, he is a Restricted Free Agent. This means: The player may negotiate with other teams, but if he/she agrees with another franchise on a contract, his ex-team can first outbid him/her.

If this does not happen, the player can change. But: Depending on what the player originally received from his former team, a draft pick becomes due as compensation.

There are different variations of franchise tags: the exclusive, the non-exclusive and the transition tag. With these tags, teams have the possibility to bind the players to the team for a further year, with which it was certainly not possible to agree on a new contract before. However, anyone who uses this remedy must take it just as deep into their pockets.

For the exclusive day, for example, the player receives the average salary of the five highest salaries on the position or 120 percent of his or her own previous year’s salary for the coming year. Whichever is higher.

However, the teams are not allowed to give every player a day they would like to hold. Only one player per year may be equipped with one of the tags. More information about franchise and transition tags can be found here at a glance

Contrary to the players who played until the age of 14. Those who have already been dismissed can contact potential contractors if they are officially still under contract by 31 March. The Houston Texans, for example, have dismissed linebacker Brian Cushing. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, on the other hand, are Running Back Doug Martin and defensive Lineman Chris Baker. All of them are free agents with immediate effect and can conduct contract negotiations with other teams.

All in all, in the days up to 14. The European Commission has announced on March 12 that it will extend and dismissal contracts before 12 March. We will be able to start official negotiations with other teams in March.

In the case of layoffs, the rationale is usually based on cost-cutting measures. Prolongations, on the other hand, occur if both parties can agree on a new contract at an early stage or on the franchise day mentioned above.

The go-ahead for the Free Agency usually causes confusing chaos. The best available players will soon find themselves in a new employer’s house, where agreements are usually made in the negotiation window between the 12th round of negotiations. and 14. March.

The first deals will be leaked in the first few hours before the official start of the Free Agency. In the hours after that, it comes in quick succession. In the SPOX Live Ticker you are on the safe side if you don’t want to miss any of these deals. We will start on 12. March.

Once again this year there are a lot of interesting players, whose contracts expire and who can sign a new contract with each team from the start of the new league year. A detailed list of top free agents for all positions can be found here.