To allow more time for players to vote on the proposed CBA, the NFL and NFLPA have agreed to move the deadline for franchise tags to Monday, March 16. The deadline was previously moved from March 10 to March 12.
Players have until Saturday afternoon to vote on the new CBA. If the new CBA is not ratified, the league will continue operating under the current CBA.
“As a reminder, absent an agreement on a new CBA, clubs have both a Franchise and Transition designation available in the 2020 League Year,” the NFL and NFLPA said in a joint statement (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter).
Immediately after the franchise tag deadline, clubs can begin negotiating with pending free agents. “Legal tampering” begins Monday, two days before the start of NFL free agency on Wednesday, March 18.
If the Broncos are unable to reach a long-term contract extension with safety Justin Simmons before Monday, they will place a one-year franchise tag on him.
Denver would then continue negotiating with Simmons and the team would have more leverage because the safety would not be able to leave the team in 2020. Fortunately for Simmons, Broncos general manager John Elway has reached a multi-year agreement with every player he has tagged in the past.
