NASHVILLE – The start of free agency is now upon us.
Beginning today, clubs are permitted to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become unrestricted free agents upon expiration of their 2024 player contracts on Wednesday, March 12. The two-day negotiating period applies only to prospective unrestricted free agents. It does not apply to players who have received, or who may receive, a required tender applicable to the 2025 League Year (e.g., exclusive rights players, restricted free agents, franchise players or transition players).
A few questions from the NFL are below, followed by a list of Titans who are scheduled to become free agents.
Q. What are the categories of free agency?
A. Players are either "restricted free agents" or "unrestricted free agents." A restricted free agent may be subject to a "qualifying offer." A restricted or unrestricted free agent may be designated by his prior club as its franchise player or transition player.
Q. What is the difference between a restricted free agent and an unrestricted free agent?
A. In the 2025 league year, players with three accrued seasons who have received a qualifying offer become restricted free agents when their contracts expire at the conclusion of the 2024 league year on March 12. Unrestricted free agents have completed four or more accrued seasons. Upon expiration of his 2024 contract, an unrestricted free agent is free to sign with any club with no draft-choice compensation owed to his old club.
Q. How do the free agency rules apply to restricted free agents?
A. If a player with three accrued seasons has received a "qualifying offer" (a salary tender predetermined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and its players) from his old club, he can negotiate with any club through April 19. If the restricted free agent signs an offer sheet with a new club, his old club can match the offer and retain him because the qualifying offer entitles it to a "right of first refusal" on any offer sheet the player signs. If the old club does not match the offer, it may receive draft-choice compensation depending on the amount of its qualifying offer. If an offer sheet is not executed on or before April 18, the player's negotiating rights revert exclusively to his old club. In addition, prior to the start of free agency a player who would otherwise be a restricted free agent may be designated by his old club as its franchise player or transition player.
Q. What determines an unrestricted free agent?
A. A player with four or more accrued seasons whose contract has expired. He is free to sign with any club, with no draft-choice compensation owed to his old club, through July 22 (or the first scheduled day of the first NFL training camp, whichever is later). At that point, his negotiating rights revert exclusively to his old club if by April 28 the old club tendered the player a one-year contract for 110 percent of his prior year's salary. His old club then has until the Tuesday following Week 10 of the regular season (November 11) to sign him. If he does not sign by that date, he must sit out the season. If no tender is offered by April 28, the player can be signed by any club at any time throughout the season.
Q. What is the salary cap for 2025?
A. The salary cap is $279,200,000 per club.
Now, a list of Titans scheduled to become free agents:
Exclusive Rights Free Agents
DB Darrell Baker
DB Mike Brown
LB Jack Gibbens
OL Andrew Rupcich
DL TK McLendon
Restricted Free Agents
P Ryan Stonehouse
RB Julius Chestnut
LB Chance Campbell
Unrestricted Free Agents
K Nick Folk
QB Mason Rudolph
QB Nick Westbrook-Ikhine
LB Jerome Baker
RB Joshua Kelley
DB Justin Hardee
DB Quandre Diggs
DB Daryl Worley
LB Raekwon McMillan
LS Morgan Cox
LB Garret Wallow
LB Luke Gifford
OL Daniel Brunskill
OL Corey Levin
DL Sebastian Joseph-Day
OL Dillon Radunz
WR Tyler Boyd
TE Nick Vannett
DL Marlon Davidson
DL James Lynch
