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when can nfl teams sign free agents

NFL teams can negotiate with pending free agents during a short “legal tampering” window, but they can only officially sign most unrestricted free agents once the new league year starts in March.

When Can NFL Teams Sign Free Agents?

1. Unrestricted free agents (most of the big names)

  • Each year, the official free agency signing period opens when the new league year begins, usually in mid‑March at 4:00 p.m. ET.
  • For the 2026 offseason , the league has set that date as March 11 at 4:00 p.m. ET ; that’s when teams can start signing players whose prior contracts expired at that moment.
  • From that time on, UFAs can sign with any team, subject to normal roster and salary cap rules.

2. The “legal tampering” window

  • A few days before the new league year, there is a two‑day negotiation window (often called “legal tampering”).
  • In 2026 , this window runs from March 9 at 12:00 p.m. ET to March 11 at 3:59:59 p.m. ET , during which teams may contact and negotiate with the agents of players who will become UFAs , but cannot yet execute the contracts.
  • This is why you see a flood of “Player X intends to sign with Team Y” headlines before the official opening of free agency.

3. Other free‑agent types and timing nuances

  • Street free agents (players not under contract to any NFL team, including some released veterans or players from other leagues) can often be signed earlier; for example, for 2026, clubs may begin signing players for the new season as early as January 5 , including players from the CFL.
  • Restricted free agents (RFA) and exclusive‑rights free agents (ERFA) follow special timelines involving tenders and rights of first refusal; deadlines like an April 17 offer‑sheet deadline govern when RFAs can sign offer sheets with new teams.
  • There are also cut‑off points later in the calendar (such as late July deadlines for tendered UFAs) where the original club’s exclusive negotiating rights kick back in if the player remains unsigned.

4. Simple way to remember it

  1. January and early offseason – Teams can sign “street” free agents and players from other leagues for the upcoming season.
  1. Early March (legal tampering) – Teams can negotiate with pending UFAs but not officially sign them yet.
  1. Mid‑March (new league year) – The true free‑agency signing period opens at 4:00 p.m. ET , and contracts with UFAs can officially be executed.

TL;DR:
If you’re asking “when can NFL teams sign free agents?” in the normal sense (big‑name UFAs leaving their old teams), the answer is: when the new league year begins in mid‑March (e.g., March 11, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. ET), after a short legal tampering window where they can only negotiate.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.