The NFL season may have officially ended on February 11 but the drama continues with plenty of vital dates on the upcoming schedule. Franchise tag season officially opened on February 20 and will carry on until March 5. Free agents cannot be signed until March 13, 4:00 p.m. ET, when the new NFL league year officially begins. There is, however, a period in between where teams can speak to agents about unrestricted free agents.
In a recent piece for Pro Football Talk, NFL insider Mike Florio spoke about the upcoming “legal tampering period.” While free agents cannot sign until Wednesday, March 13, there is a gap between March 11-13 where teams are permitted to speak with agents and negotiate terms for prospective unrestricted free agents. According to Florio, this is when a lot of real negotiations begin.
“It all starts next Monday at noon. Not Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. ET,” stated Florio.
Free agency starts next Monday at noon ET, with the launch of the annual "legal tampering" period. https://t.co/Tg0dr83NqZ
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 4, 2024
While no deal can be officially signed until the new NFL league year begins, there is plenty of time of teams, agents and players to discuss terms and possibly even inflate the numbers. Agents can test the market to see what kind of demand there is for their clients before signing a contract days later.
With the franchise tag period set to end tomorrow, teams will have a better idea of which players are available, and which are not. Expect to see plenty of rumors swirling in the coming week, especially in the days prior to the March 13 signing period.
