Feature
Locked In: Every 2026 Keeper List, Decoded
All 12 franchises submitted. 117 players protected, 184 veterans cut loose. Here's what each team kept and what it cost.
By Dispatch Staff · 8/9/2026
Lock day is done. Every franchise in the NJFFL is on the record for 2026, and the shape of the offseason is finally visible: 117 players protected, 184 veterans dumped into the auction pool, six franchise tags, four impact tags, and two developmental squads.
The rules, as a refresher: a mini-cap of $10.5M for your non-tagged keepers, a $25M full cap, a franchise tag that pins a player at $5.0M, an impact tag at $2.0M (capped at 19 PPG the prior year), and a developmental squad that costs a flat $3.0M no matter whether you carry one player or three.
What every team kept
| Team | Keepers | Mini-cap | Tag | Total vs. $25M | Room left |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jersey City Crop Dusters | 10 | $10.0M | Chase (IMP) | $12.0M | $13.0M |
| Boston Alliance | 9 | $10.0M | Kyren (IMP) | $12.0M | $13.0M |
| Toledo Terriers | 8 | $10.4M | St. Brown (IMP) | $12.2M | $12.8M |
| Florida Finatics | 8 | $10.5M | Judkins (IMP) | $12.5M | $12.5M |
| Alaska Lookouts | 13 | $10.3M | Dev squad (3) | $13.3M | $11.7M |
| Newark Immigrants | 10 | $9.3M | Josh Allen (FRA) | $14.3M | $10.7M |
| Montclair Heights | 10 | $9.6M | Lawrence (FRA) | $14.6M | $10.4M |
| West Hartford | 11 | $9.6M | Prescott (FRA) | $14.6M | $10.4M |
| Philadelphia Phreaks | 10 | $9.8M | Hurts (FRA) | $14.8M | $10.2M |
| Louisville Lightning | 10 | $10.2M | Bijan (FRA) | $15.2M | $9.8M |
| Maine Machine | 8 | $10.4M | Herbert (FRA) | $15.4M | $9.6M |
| Chicago Icemen | 10 | $10.1M | Caleb (FRA) + Dev (2) | $18.1M | $6.9M |
Five things that jump off the page
1. The tag is a tax, and half the league paid it. Six teams spent $5.0M on a franchise tag — five of them on a quarterback. Newark, Montclair, West Hartford, Philadelphia and Maine all decided that locking a passer was worth a fifth of the cap. Louisville was the lone team to franchise a running back, and Bijan Robinson is the one player in the league nobody argues about.
2. Jersey City and Boston are the auction''s buyers. Both walk in with $13.0M. Jersey City did it while keeping Jonathan Taylor, Jahmyr Gibbs and Ja''Marr Chase. That is not supposed to be legal.
3. Chicago is broke on purpose. $18.1M committed, $6.9M of room, and a two-man developmental squad that costs the same $3.0M a three-man squad would. The Icemen bet on Caleb Williams, TreVeyon Henderson and youth. It''s a bet, not a plan B.
4. Alaska maxed the roster. Thirteen keepers — ten mini-cap bodies plus a full three-man dev squad of Theo Johnson, Tory Horton and Trey Benson — for $13.3M. Nobody squeezed more names under the number.
5. Maine and Florida cut it to the bone. Maine sits at $10.4M mini-cap with eight names. Florida is at $10.5M exactly — one penny of accounting error and the list bounces.
Who''s in the pool
The 184 released veterans include Patrick Mahomes, Matthew Stafford, Drake Maye, Travis Kelce, Kyle Pitts, Michael Pittman and a full board of streaming defenses and kickers. Quarterback is absurdly deep — eighteen passers were released at $1.6M or higher — which means the auction market for the position could collapse.
Full board on the Free Agents page. Draft order on the Draft Hub.
Photo: Josh Allen — All-Pro Reels / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)