What is a no-trade clause in an NFL contract? What are void years?

On Monday, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Presott officially became the highest-paid player in NFL history. The Cowboys and Prescott agreed to a four-year,$240 million contract extension, which will earn him an average annual salary of $60 million. On Wednesday, more details of the contract were revealed, which included a no-trade clause and a no-franchise tag clause. Here’s what that and other terms of Prescott’s contract actually mean.

No-trade clause in an NFL contract

A no-trade clause in an NFL contract means that a team cannot trade a player to another team without his consent. If that player wants to go to another team and the team sets up the deal, then the player can waive the clause and complete the deal. If the team attempted to trade the player without his consent, then he could block the trade and it would not be accepted.

Usually, this clause is only part of the contracts of big stars in the NFL as they protect the player from being traded if they are not performing well or if the team is attempting to trade them to a team which is less comPetitive.

No-franchise/transition tag clause in an NFL contract

A no-franchise/transition tag clause in an NFL player’s contract means that his team cannot use a franchise tag on him.The franchise tag binds a player to his team for one year under certain conditions. It allows teams to retain valuable players with a known, non-negotiated salary. It is rare for an NFL contract to include a no-franchise tag clause.

There are three different types of franchise tags:

Void years in an NFL contract

Void years are the years in which an NFL player will never play. They are used as placeholders for prorated signing bonus money, which can be assigned when the void years are created in the contract (or through a contract restructure). The maximum number of void years that can be added to a contract is five.