When a contract expires, the player heads for free agency — unless you stop him. The transition tag is your tool for keeping one expiring player out of the open market while still paying a fair, market-set price.
Transition tag
The transition tag puts your player on the free-agency auction block. You can't bid on your own tagged player, but rival bids set his market price. When a rival wins, they lock in the years and salary structure, and you get a matching window — 5 days by default — to match those exact terms and keep him. Match and he stays on that contract; decline and he signs with the winning team (your tag salary comes back, but you can't transition-tag again until next year). Each team gets 1 transition tag per offseason by default.
| Setting | Default | Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transition tags | 1 per offseason | 1–5 | Right of first refusal — the player goes on the auction block and you match the winning bid to keep him. |
| Transition match window | 5 days | 1–14 days | Time you have to match the winning bid on a transition-tagged player. |