How Does NFL Free Agency Work? Tenders, Tags and the Legal Tampering Window

NFL free agency is the offseason process, centered on mid-March, in which expiring player contracts void and teams sign eligible veterans under salary-cap rules — governed by three player classes and a two-day negotiating window before signings become official. "Free agent" doesn't mean the same thing for every player on an expiring deal, so understanding it starts with who's actually free to move.

The Three Kinds of Free Agent

Every player whose contract has expired falls into one of three buckets, and the bucket is determined entirely by how many accrued seasons he has — not his age, his talent, or his contract value. This single number decides whether he can sign wherever he wants or whether his old team still holds leverage over him.

A UFA is what most fans picture when they hear "free agency": his contract is up, he has at least four accrued seasons, and he can sign with any of the 32 teams the moment the new league year opens. An RFA has exactly three accrued seasons — one year short of full freedom — and while he's technically allowed to negotiate with other clubs, his original team can neutralize that with a tender (more below). An ERFA has fewer than three accrued seasons; if his team tenders him a one-year, minimum-salary contract, he has no outside options at all, per NFL Football Operations.

What an Accrued Season Is

Because the accrued-season count is the entire basis for free agent status, it's worth getting precise. Under Article 8 of the CBA, a player earns one accrued season for a year in which he was on, or should have been on, full-pay status for six or more regular-season games. Injured-reserve time under contract generally counts; practice-squad time and non-football-injury PUP time don't. A player can also forfeit a season for failing to report to camp or perform contract duties without an approved hardship reason.

This is why a talented player can still be an RFA at 24 or 25: injury time or a year on a practice squad means his clock simply hasn't reached four yet, regardless of how many calendar years he's been in the league.

One more benefit tied to this number: vested veterans (four-plus accrued seasons) who get released go straight to unrestricted free agency instead of passing through waivers — they choose their next team rather than having one assigned by waiver priority.

Restricted Free Agency and the Tender System

An RFA's original team controls his market through a tender — a one-year qualifying offer that sets both his minimum salary and, critically, the draft-pick compensation the team would receive if a rival signs him to an offer sheet the original team doesn't match. There are four tender levels, and a team chooses which one to apply based on how much it's willing to pay and how much protection it wants:

According to NFL Football Operations, current tender salary floors run from roughly $3.5 million for a right-of-first-refusal-only tender up to about $8.1 million for a first-round tender, with each level set at the greater of a fixed dollar figure or 110% of the player's prior salary. These figures move with the cap each year — check Over The Cap's free agent tender primer for current numbers.

Here's the mechanic that matters: an RFA who gets an offer sheet from another team has found a market price, but his original team then has five days to match it. Match, and he stays with the original team on those terms; decline, and the original team collects the promised draft compensation. That's why high-round tenders are rarely topped — no team wants to surrender a first-round pick for a player the original club can simply keep by matching. Real offer sheets are consequently uncommon; most RFAs just sign their tender. This runs alongside, but separately from, the franchise tag, which applies to UFAs, not RFAs.

The Legal Tampering Period

Before the new league year opens, the NFL runs a two-day "legal tampering" window in which teams and agents representing prospective UFAs can negotiate terms — but nothing can be signed. Agreements reported during this window are handshake deals: contracts can't be executed until the league year begins, so a reported "agreement" on day one of tampering is a deal waiting on a clock, not a signed contract.

For 2026, the legal tampering period runs from noon ET on Monday, March 9, through 4:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 11 — the moment the new league year opens.

The biggest change for 2026: for the first time, teams are allowed direct contact with prospective free agents during this window. Previously all negotiation ran through a player's agent, with no team official permitted to speak to the player himself. Under the new rule, a club may hold one video or phone call, capped at one hour, with up to five prospective unrestricted free agents — but the player's certified agent must be on the call. It's a real crack in a wall that had stood since the negotiating period was created, giving front offices and coaches a limited, monitored chance at a direct pitch instead of relying entirely on an intermediary.

Outside that new allowance, nothing else changed: teams still can't contact restricted free agents, exclusive-rights free agents, or players under contract elsewhere.

When the League Year Actually Starts

The new league year — and with it, the actual ability to sign contracts, trade players, and file paperwork — begins at 4:00 p.m. ET on the same day the legal tampering window closes (March 11 in 2026). A list of housekeeping has to happen right at that moment or in the hours before it: every team must be under the salary cap with no grace period, RFA and ERFA tenders must be extended to preserve those rights, option and roster bonuses tied to contract dates come due, and trades quietly discussed during tampering can finally be executed (see how NFL trades work).

A club that isn't cap-compliant by that deadline simply can't operate — it has to cut, restructure, or extend its way under the number before the clock strikes.

How Free Agency Creates Next Year's Draft Picks

Every UFA who leaves for a new team can generate a compensatory draft pick for the team he left — awarded the following spring, not immediately. The formula, based on the departing player's contract value, playing time, and postseason honors relative to that year's other free agents, nets signings against losses: a team that loses more compensatory-eligible UFAs than it signs gets extra picks in rounds 3 through 7, while one-for-one matches (a loss canceled out by a signing in a similar round) produce nothing.

The league caps this at four picks per team and awards exactly 32 leaguewide each year. That's why some front offices go quiet in the first days of free agency: signing even one modest UFA can cancel out the compensatory value of a player they lost, so a team angling for draft capital sometimes lets its own free agents walk and simply waits — a direct link between one offseason's roster churn and the following year's draft order.

Tampering: What Teams Actually Get Punished For

"Legal tampering" is legal only inside the sanctioned window. Contact outside it, or beyond what it permits, is just tampering — and the NFL has punished it with real losses.

The most severe case came in 2022, when the league found the Miami Dolphins had impermissible contact with Tom Brady and then-Saints coach Sean Payton before either was a free agent. Miami forfeited its 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 third-round pick, and owner Stephen Ross was fined $1.5 million and suspended into October 2022, per Fox Sports and ESPN — the first first-round forfeiture since Deflategate.

Smaller cases show the same pattern at lower stakes: in 2016 the Kansas City Chiefs were fined $250,000 and stripped of third- and sixth-round picks over contact with free agent Jeremy Maclin, and in 2024 the Atlanta Falcons forfeited a 2025 fifth-round pick and paid $250,000 over tampering tied to their pursuit of Kirk Cousins, per CBS Sports. The common thread: contact before the window opens, or beyond what it allows, draws forfeited picks and personal fines — not a slap on the wrist.

The Free Agency Calendar

FAQ

What is legal tampering in the NFL? It's the officially sanctioned negotiating window before the new league year opens, during which teams and agents for prospective unrestricted free agents can discuss and agree to contract terms — but cannot sign anything until the league year officially begins.

What is a restricted free agent? A player with exactly three accrued seasons and an expired contract. He can negotiate with any team, but his original club can apply a tender that gives it the right to match any offer sheet, or draft-pick compensation if it chooses not to.

When does NFL free agency start? The legal tampering window opens two days before the new league year; official signings begin when the new league year starts, which in 2026 is 4:00 p.m. ET on March 11.

What's the difference between an RFA and an ERFA? An RFA (three accrued seasons) can negotiate with other teams even under a tender, subject to his original team's right to match. An ERFA (fewer than three) has no outside options once tendered — he can only sign with his original team.

Can a UFA agreement made during legal tampering fall apart? Yes. Nothing is binding until the league year opens and the deal is formally signed and passes a physical.

What is a compensatory draft pick? An extra pick, awarded the following year in rounds 3 through 7, given to a team that lost more qualifying free agents than it signed.

What happens with a post-June 1 cut? The player becomes a free agent immediately, but the cap savings for the team that released him don't kick in until June 2.