The Patriots will not use the franchise or transition tag in 2014.
The club said it had no transactions to announce on Monday, the deadline for teams to designate franchise and transition free agents.
The most obvious New England candidate for either tag was cornerback Aqib Talib, though wide receiver Julian Edelman’s strong 2013 form made him a reasonable tag recipient, too.
The Patriots now have a little less than eight days to sign Talib or Edelman before they can officially test the market when the new league year begins next Tuesday. Both are slated to be unrestricted free agents.