Brett Veach certainly didn’t sound like a man who was going to use the franchise tag not so long ago. Then the National Football League announced a salary cap hike that was friendlier than expected, and suddenly reports that the Kansas City Chiefs would avoid applying the tag this offseason were rendered null and void.
As it turns out, most of the league agreed with Veach’s original position. By the time Tuesday’s deadline passed, only two NFL teams decided to use the franchise tag.
Veach, the Chiefs’ general manager, decided to keep starting right guard Trey Smith for at least another season with the use of the tag. The other team? The Cincinnati Bengals made certain that wide receiver Tee Higgins wasn’t going to go anywhere in free agency, which will make quarterback Joe Burrow happy.
The Chiefs and Bengals were the only teams to utilize the franchise tag for the 2025 offseason.
Only two weeks ago, a source told Nate Taylor of The Athletic that the Chiefs were set to let Trey Smith hit the open market, but then news broke that Smith was going to receive the tag after all. The salary cap went up $23.8 million over last year.
The Chiefs are no strangers to utilizing the franchise tag. Defensive lineman Chris Jones received the tag in Veach’s tenure with the team, as did left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. Other Chiefs who’ve been tagged over the last decade include pass rusher Dee Ford and linebacker Justin Houston. K.C. fans might also remember the tag being applied to offensive lineman Branden Albert and wide receiver Dwayne Bowe.
Higgins and Smith were two favorites to potentially receive the tag coming into the offseason, but NFL fans might have been surprised at the lack of tag for others like safety Jevon Holland of the Miami Dolphins and quarterback Sam Darnold of the Minnesota Vikings.
It’s also notable that no NFL team utilized the transition tag for 2025 either.