The window for using the franchise tag opens for all 32 NFL teams on Tuesday and runs for two weeks, closing in the afternoon of March 4. The franchise tag is a one-year, fully guaranteed tender that allows a team to keep a player who will be an unrestricted free agent.
Do the Green Bay Packers have a franchise tag candidate this year?
The short, quick answer: No.
First, know there are three different tag options: the non-exclusive franchise tag, the exclusive franchise tag and the transition tag. More on the specifics of the tags can be found here.
Don’t expect the Packers to use a tag during the next two weeks.
General manager Brian Gutekunst doesn’t have a priority free agent to re-sign at the cost of a tag. The team wants kicker Brandon McManus back, but the Packers won’t want to commit millions in guaranteed money to a soon-to-be 34-year-old kicker in 2025. The same goes for center Josh Myers, who isn’t certain to return to Green Bay, and defensive lineman T.J. Slaton, a run-stuffer up front on defense. The cost is just far too high.
According to Over the Cap, the projected franchise tag values for kicker, center and defensive line in 2025 are as follows:
Kicker: $6,459,000
Offensive line: $25,156,000
Defensive tackle: $23,468,000
These amounts eliminate the Packers’ three most important free agents from serious consideration for the franchise tag. Even the transition tag value for kickers — a potential option if the Packers are serious about keeping McManus off the market — doesn’t make much sense at almost $6 million for 2025.
Without a must-keep free agent, the Packers will almost certainly let the two-week window pass without using a tag — business as usual in Green Bay.
The Packers haven’t used the franchise tag since tagging receiver Davante Adams before trading him in 2022. In fact, the Packers have only used the tag five times since its introduction in 1993.
Packers tag history
2022: WR Davante Adams (traded to LV)
2010: DL Ryan Pickett (contract extension)
2008: DL Corey Williams (traded to CLE)
1999: WR Antonio Freeman (contract extension)
1998: RB Dorsey Levens (contract extension)