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CINCINNATI, OH - OCTOBER 26: Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) in action during the game against the New York Jets and the Cincinnati Bengals on October 26, 2025, at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, OH. (Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Super Bowl is over, and the offseason is officially here.
Remember, though, the NFL never sleeps. Scouts and analysts are busily working, looking at free agents and upcoming rookies in hopes of putting a championship-caliber team together for the Cincinnati Bengals.
The first decision that needs to be made is what they’ll do with the NFL franchise tag, if anything.
Franchise Tag Dates
The franchise and transition tag window opens on February 18 and runs through 4 pm ET on March 4. During that span of time, teams may apply a tag to one pending unrestricted free agent, keeping him off the market.
Last season, the Bengals offered Tee Higgins the franchise tag on March 3 before signing him to a long-term deal on March 17.
Non-Exclusive Franchise Tag
There are a few different options teams have when it comes to the franchise tag. If they use a non-exclusive tag, the tagged player is free to negotiate with other teams. If they don’t receive any offers, they can play on the tag with a salary of the cap percentage average at the position. However, if they do receive an offer, the Bengals would have five days to match, and if they don’t, the Bengals would receive two first-round picks.
Exclusive Franchise Tag
Then there’s the exclusive tag, which cuts out the negotiations with other teams. A player on the exclusive tag gets a one-year deal worth the average of the five largest contracts at that position for the prior season, 120% of the prior-year contract, or the non-exclusive tag amount, whichever is higher.
Transition Tag
The transition tag allows a player to negotiate with other teams. The player would receive a one-year deal worth the top-10 cap percentage average at his position or 120% of his prior year’s salary, whichever is higher. If a player on a transition tag signs with another team, the Bengals would have five days to match, but if they don’t, there is no draft compensation.
If Hendrickson is tagged, and some believed at one point that he would be, he would be owed $34.8 million, which is 120% of his 2025 salary. That’s the higher number for all three variations of the franchise tag. No matter how the Bengals tag him, that’s the cost.
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