what is a restricted free agent tender in the nfl
Restricted free agent In the National Football League, a restricted free agent (RFA) is one with three accrued seasons (six or more regular season games with a team)[1] of service, who has received a "qualifying" offer (a salary level predetermined by the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and its players, known as a "tender") from his current club. He can negotiate with any club through a certain date. If the restricted free agent accepts an offer sheet from a new club, his old club has "right of first refusal," a five-day period in which it may match the offer and retain him, or choose not to match the offer, in which case it may receive one or more draft picks for the upcoming draft from the player's new club. If an offer sheet is not executed, the player's rights revert to his old club the day after negotiations must end.
Super Bowl XLIV The Saints finished the next season with an 11â€“5 record, but failed to defend their league title after they were eliminated by the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card playoff round. Super Bowl XLIV later became the subject of the wider New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, also known as "Bountygate", in which the NFL alleged in 2012 that several Saints defenders operated a slush fund that was in operation from the 2009 season and Super Bowl XLIV, through 2011. This alleged slush fund paid out bonuses, or "bounties", for in-game performance in violation of NFL rules, including deliberately injuring or knocking opposing players out of games. The league responded with some of the most severe sanctions in the league's 92-year history, and among the most severe punishments for an on-field incident in North American professional sports history.[49] In 2012, New Orleans failed to make the playoffs for the first time since their Super Bowl win, with the sanctions for Bountygate cited as one of the primary causes. The Saints rebounded in 2013, but were eliminated in the Divisional playoff round by the eventual Super Bowl XLVIII champion Seahawks, and have returned to the playoffs in 2018 by defeating Carolina Panthers in the Wildcard Round, but lost to Minnesota Vikings in the Divisional Rounds. Thus, New Orleans have not advanced to the Conference Championship Game since Super Bowl XLIV.