RADIO
Super Bowl LVII is in the rearview mirror, and the Kansas City Chiefs are the world champions for the second time in four years. After a thrilling season, it is time to start looking ahead to 2023. The first major event of the NFL offseason is free agency.
The concept of free agency is rather simple: unsigned players can sign with new teams for more money. Players get paid for their performance, and teams can improve by adding talent to the depleted positions on their roster. However, the process of free agency is very intricate and quite complex, but fear not, I am here to break it all down for you in my NFL Free Agency Primer series.
Throughout this series, we will discuss the franchise tag and transition tags, restricted and unrestricted free agents, and tenders available to teams to protect themselves from losing a valuable player. We will also discuss the misunderstood legal tampering period. However, before we discuss the ins and outs of the NFL free agency process, let’s take a look at the important dates to know so that you can follow along with the league and know what to expect coming up.
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Important Dates For 2023 NFL Free Agency
All times indicated are Eastern Standard Time (EST)
February 21, 2023 - The first day NFL teams can apply the franchise or transition tag.
We are currently in this period of the NFL offseason. Teams are currently deciding which players they are going to use a franchise tag or transition tag on in order to protect themselves from losing players that they covet if they are unable to come to a long-term agreement.
March 7, 2023 - 4:00 PM deadline for NFL teams to apply the franchise or transition tag on their players.
If a team has not placed the franchise or transition tag on a player by this deadline, that player is officially an unrestricted free agent.
March 13, 2023 - 12:00 PM start time of the legal tampering/negotiation period.
The legal tampering/negotiation period is a short window where players’ agents are allowed to negotiate with NFL teams prior to the official start of the NFL season. Typically, we see the most high-profile free agents agree to contracts during this window.
March 15, 2023 - 4:00 PM official end of the legal tampering period and the official start time of the new league and NFL free agency. Also, by this time, NFL teams MUST:
- Exercise any 2023 options they have on a player’s 2022 contract.
- Assign tenders to restricted free agents in order to retain the Right of First Refusal (explained more thoroughly in the Restricted vs. Unrestricted Free Agent article in this series).
- Be under the 2023 salary cap ($224.8 million).
- Start time for trading to resume.
April 21, 2023 - Deadline for restricted free agents to sign offer sheets with another team (explained more thoroughly in the Restricted vs. Unrestricted Free Agent article in this series).
April 26, 2023 - Deadline for NFL teams to match offer sheets to restricted free agents in order to retain their players. (explained more thoroughly in the Restricted vs. Unrestricted Free Agent article in this series).
May 1, 2023 – Deadline for teams to exercise the fifth-year option for the 2024 season on their first-round selections from the 2020 NFL Draft.
July 17, 2023 - 4:00 PM - Deadline for a franchise-tagged player to sign the tag or negotiate a long-term deal with their team. If this deadline passes without the parties agreeing to a long-term contract, the player must play under the franchise tag or hold out. They cannot discuss a long-term deal with the team until next offseason.
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