Feb. 27, 2026, 3:09 p.m. ET

Very much of interest to the Indianapolis Colts, the NFL has set the official franchise tag and transition tag figures for the 2026 season.

The Colts are working towards deals with free agents to be Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce. The goal, as Chris Ballard described at the NFL combine, isn’t to use the franchise tag, but it is an available tool if needed.

“It’s not what we want to do,” Ballard said of the franchise tag. “It’s a tool we have, but it’s not what we want to do, though.”

The purpose of using the franchise or transition tag isn’t to have Jones or Pierce play out the season on those deals. That is not cap-friendly to the Colts, and both players want long-term deals.

However, if a deal can’t be reached, it would keep both from hitting the open market, extending the negotiating window. We saw the Colts use this strategy in 2024 with Michael Pittman. After initially placing the franchise tag on Pittman, the two sides agreed to an extension about a week later.

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.2026 NFL franchise tag values

The franchise tag value for a quarterback in 2026 is $43.89 million. For a receiver it is $27.29 million.

Each team has the ability to use the franchise tag on one of their pending free agents each offseason.

If applied, a franchise tag is essentially a one-year deal. The contract amount is predetermined and takes into account which position the tagged player plays.

According to Over the Cap, “franchise tag figures are based upon the top five salaries at each respective position.”

2026 NFL transition tag values

The transition value for a quarterback is $37.83 million, and it’s $23.85 million for a wideout.

The transition tag, according to CBS Sports, allows free agents to still negotiate with other teams, but the current team gets the opportunity to match any offers. The salary for a player who received the transition tag is pre-determined by the average of the top 10 salaries at the player’s position over the last five years.

The deadline to apply either of these tags is March 3rd. The NFL’s legal tampering period begins on March 9th.