NFL Free Agency Primer '07-'08

It's that time again in the NFL-Free Agency! For various reasons each year, most NFL teams, for better or for worse, seek to sign players available to them from the free agent pool of players. Following is an NFL Free Agency Primer to help cover the basics of the '07-'08 NFL Free Agency.

What is Free Agency?
Essentially, free agency is a pool of free agent players. It's the market where free agents find themselves after their contract expires.

What is a Free Agent?
A free agent is a player whose contract has expired with the team he was playing with, and is therefore able to sign with another, or the same, team in the free agency market.

When can players start being signed from the '07-'08 free agency market?
Beginning at 12:01 AM ET, Friday, February 29, players can start putting their John Hancock on the dotted lines of a new contract whether it is with a new team or the same team.

Does the free agency signing period have an end date?
Yes, the '07-'08 free agency signing period ends on April 18 this year for restricted free agents; July 22 or the first scheduled day for the first NFL training camp(whichever is later) for unrestricted free agents; and for franchise players the first Tuesday after the 10th week of the season, or November 11th.

Who are "restricted" free agents?
A player is a restricted free agent after he has completed three accrued seasons in the NFL and his contract expires. Also, to be considered a restricted free agent, a player has to have received a "qualifying" offer from the NFL team he had been with prior to going onto the free agency market. (A qualifying offer is a salary level predetermined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NFL League and the NFL Players Association.)

These "restrictions"applicable to restricted free agents include the option by his former team to "match" any offer sheet(s) any other team may have tendered to the restricted free agent and that he accepted after negotiations with a new team(s), since the team he had been playing with has the "right to first refusal" in order to retain said player. If the restricted free agent's former team doesn't match an offer tendered to him by another team, the old team can possibly receive a draft-choice as compensation. This too, depends on the amount of the qualifying offer the restricted free agent was offered by his old team.

Who are "unrestricted" agents?
An unrestricted free agent has completed four or more accrued seasons in the NFL and his contract has expired. Like "restricted" free agents, "unrestricted" agents can negotiate with other NFL teams until his signing period is over. Among other variables,the difference is that if he signs with another NFL team, no "restrictions" are placed upon him.

Here are the variables, though. If the "unrestricted" free agent signs with another team his old team isn't due any compensation. If the "unrestricted" free agent's old team "tendered him an offer, which has to be110% of his salary the previous year, by June 1st, then the player's rights revert back to his old team. Then the team must sign him by November 11th this year. If the signing doesn't take place by then, then the player has to sit out the remainder of the season. Conversely, if the team doesn't "tender" an offer to the player by June 1st, then he can sign with any team throughout the season.

Who are "franchise" players?
Again for better or for worse, both for the player and/or the team, a player may be designated as a franchise player by the team for which he is currently playing . Each NFL team can designate one franchise player, or one transition player per year. Further delineating franchise players is the designation of "exclusive" and "non-exclusive."

What differentiates "exclusive" and "non--exclusive" franchise players? How does that work?
Ok, here's where it gets a little bit involved. The salary level offered by a team placing a "franchise tag" on one of its players determines the franchise player's exclusive or non-exclusive designation.

An exclusive franchise player is offered the minimum of the top five salaries at that player's position, or 120% of his salary the previous year, or the average of the top five salaries at his position at the end of last season-whichever of the three is greater. Additionally, the "exclusive" franchise player is not allowed to sign with another team.

If the franchise player is offered either one of the first two above-mentioned salary options, then he is designated a "non-exclusive" franchise player. A "non-exclusive" franchise player is free to negotiate with other teams. If another team does make him an offer, his old team can "match" the offer, or receive two first-round draft picks as compensation for losing their "franchise player."

A good example of this last year was Georgia product Defensive End Charles Grant. He was tagged, somewhat to his chagrin, a franchise player-non-exclusive. He talked to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after being designated as such. Ultimately however, he wanted to stay a Saint and did.

What's a "transition(al) player?
A team can only designate one "transition" OR one "franchise" player per year-one or the other, but not two in the same year. A transition player's contract terms are similar to a franchise player's contract terms. The tangible differences are a transition player's team who has designated a player as a transition player has to offer the player a minimum of the average of the top ten salaries the previous year at that player's position, OR 120% of the transitional player's previous year's salary-again whichever is greater.

If a team designates one of its players a "transitional player" then if another offer is made to the player the player's old team has seven days to match the offer sheet as it's "right to first refusal." If they match it they retain the player. If not, the player is free to sign with the offering team and the old team cannot receive any compensation for the player.

A good example of this happening last year was Jason David who had formerly been with the Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts' team. The New Orleans Saints made an offer for the corner back, and since the Indianapolis Colts didn't "match" the offer before seven days, the New Orleans Saints inked the offer with him and he became a New Orleans Saint corner back.

source: nosaints.com