Tee Higgins, 4 other NFL players who excelled during their franchise-tag season

Tee Higgins excelled in 2024 while playing under the one-year franchise tag, but the star wide receiver still might not have done enough to earn a long-term contract with the Cincinnati Bengals. With the NFL's franchise tag window now open, Higgins is expected to be tagged for a second consecutive season, according to FOX Sports NFL insider Jordan Schultz. 

[Related: The top 100 NFL free agents of 2025 ]

Higgins wouldn't be the first player to be franchise-tagged twice. Most recently, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tagged receiver Chris Godwin, as did the Jacksonville Jaguars to tackle Cam Robinson, in 2021 and 2022.

If Higgins plays under the tag for the second straight season, he would receive upwards of $26 million (a 120 percent increase, per the franchise tag rules, of the $21.8 million he made in 2024). He would then be forced once again to prove he is worthy of a long-term deal, which many other franchise-tagged players have done.

Let's dive into some of those players from the past 10 seasons. Here are five of the best seasons by NFL players playing under the franchise tag in the last decade:

1. Saquon Barkley , RB, New York Giants (2023, $10.1 million)

Barkley parlayed his franchise-tagged 2023 into a long-term deal, a record-setting season and a Super Bowl LIX championship. But he did that with the Philadelphia Eagles, not the Giants. 

While playing under the franchise tag for the Giants, Barkley rushed for 962 yards — almost five times the total of anyone else on the team — and six touchdowns, despite missing three games with an ankle sprain. He also tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns with a career-high four. After the Giants went just 6-11 and missed the playoffs, they let Barkley walk in