A transition tag is a designation used by National Football League (NFL) teams to retain unrestricted free agents.
It guarantees the original club the right of first refusal to match any offer the player may make with another team.
Their assumption would be proven incorrect following the 2005 season, with the historic offer sheet Steve Hutchinson signed with the Minnesota Vikings.
However, the Vikings added a poison pill: The entire $49 million contract was guaranteed if Hutchinson were not the highest paid offensive linemen on the team he signed with.
An arbitrator ruled in favor of the Vikings, and the Seahawks were essentially unable to match and received no compensation.
In an act of apparent revenge, the Seattle Seahawks included their own "poison pills" when signing restricted free agent wide receiver Nate Burleson.
The second provision would guarantee the full contract if Burleson is paid more on average per year than all of his team's running backs combined.
In this agreement, poison pill clauses were eliminated from offer sheets issued to players under the transition tag.
The specific language in the CBA states: "No Offer Sheet may contain a Principal Term that would create rights or obligations for the Old Club that differ in any way (including but not limited to the amount of compensation that would be paid, the circumstances in which compensation would be guaranteed, or the circumstances in which other contractual rights would or would not vest) from the rights or obligations that such Principal Term would create for the Club extending the Offer Sheet (i.e., no 'poison pills').