NFL's free-agent spending frenzy begins first with a legal tampering period

Ready, set, negotiate multi-million contracts.

The NFL’s free agency period opens Monday with a 52-hour legal tampering period ahead of the official start of the new league year Wednesday.

Edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans and Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III head the list of high-profile players who will be free to sign a contract with a new team. Quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Kyler Murray also will be seeking new teams because they’re going to be released by their teams.

Here’s an explanation of rules and terms:

At noon EDT Monday, teams can start negotiating with certified agents of players who will become unrestricted free agents when their contracts expire at the start of the new league year on 4 p.m. EDT Wednesday. Teams aren’t permitted to speak directly to the players, who can’t sign a new contract until the league year officially begins. The two-day negotiating period applies only to players who will be unrestricted free agents.

Any player with four or more accrued seasons — six or more regular-season games on a club’s active/inactive, reserve/injured or reserve/physically unable to perform lists — whose contract has expired becomes an unrestricted free agent and may negotiate and sign with any team.

Restricted free agents are players with three accrued seasons who have received a qualifying offer when their current deals expire on Wednesday.

Each team can designate one potential free agent a franchise player. Cowboys receiver George Pickens, Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts and Jets running back Breece Hall received the tag before the March 3 deadline.

An exclusive franchise player is not free to sign with another club and is offered the greater of the average of the top five salaries at the player’s position for the current year as of the end of the restricted free agent signing period on April 17; or the amount of the required tender for a nonexclusive franchise player.

A nonexclusive franchise player can sign with another team, but that club will owe his previous team two first-round draft picks. All the players tagged this year are nonexclusive.

The transition tag is a one-year offer for the average of top 10 salaries at the position. It guarantees the original club the right of first refusal to match any offer the player might receive from another team.

The tagging team is awarded no compensation if it chooses not to match a deal. Colts quarterback Daniel Jones received the transition tag this year.

The signing period for transition players begins at 4 p.m. EDT on March 11 and ends on July 22. After July 22 and until 4 p.m. EDT on the Tuesday following the 10th week of the season, the prior club has exclusive negotiating rights.

Teams can decide to withdraw franchise and transition tags and the player automatically becomes an unrestricted free agent.

The salary cap is $301.2 million per club, up from $279.2 million last year. Teams must be under the salary cap by 4 p.m. EDT Wednesday.

A team may carry over salary cap space from one league year to the following league year by submitting notice to the NFL prior to 4 p.m. EDT on the day following the team’s final regular-season game. A team can carry over 100% of its remaining 2025 room to its adjusted salary cap for 2026.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

FILE - Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) throws a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans, Oct. 5, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)

FILE - Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) walks off the field after an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Danny Karnik, File)

Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9) in the fourth quarter against the New England Patriots during Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium, in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Giants are signing tight end Isaiah Likely to a three-year contract worth $40 million, according to a person familiar with the deal.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the deal cannot become official until the new league year begins on Wednesday.

Likely, 25, follows longtime Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh to the Giants. Likely is expected to be a big part of a unit run by offensive coordinator Matt Nagy that is built around quarterback Jaxson Dart.

The Ravens-to-Giants pipeline also includes All-Pro punter Jordan Stout, who agreed to a three-year contract worth $12.3 million, according to a person familiar with that signing, which cannot become official until the new league year begins.

Earlier Monday, the Giants agreed to re-sign veteran tight end Chris Manhertz. Running back Devin Singletary recently restructured his contract to stick around. Returner/receiver Gunner Olszewski also agreed to a deal to return.

Wideout Wan'Dale Robinson is among those who could depart in free agency. Robinson, 25, eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving last season, becoming just the third player 5-foot-8 or shorter to do so since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

The Giants, with Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen working together, went into free agency with just over $14 million in salary cap space. They already released linebacker Bobby Okereke to save money, and similar moves could follow as Harbaugh reshapes the roster.

New York also has the fifth pick in the draft, though Harbaugh said at the scouting combine that he wants to fill the organization's major needs in free agency.

This headline has been corrected to show that Likely's contract is for three years, not two.

AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi in Tampa, Florida, contributed to this report.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

FILE - Baltimore Ravens punter Jordan Stout in action during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dec. 7, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, file)

FILE - Baltimore Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely (80) in action during the first half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Nov. 27, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)