The NFL league calendar is approximately one month from opening. And when it does, NFL franchise are going to have to scramble to adjust their spending plans to an amended 2021 salary cap figure. The COVID-19 pandemic hit the NFL square between the eyes despite seeing their season go off without missing a single game — and the league must now look to finalize how revenue losses will officially impact team spending power this offseason. The league and NFLPA agreed upon a $175M salary cap floor this past summer; but negotiations to bring that number higher are apparently underway.
Tom Pelissero outlined the ongoing negotiations on a story that ran last night:
“The NFL and NFLPA began preliminary negotiations last month on the 2021 salary cap. Some team officials believe (and surely hope) the cap will ultimately land closer to $185 million per club — if not a little higher — than the $175 million minimum the sides agreed to last summer as they braced for empty and mostly empty stadiums.
The league didn’t provide clubs with its annual cap projection at the delayed labor seminar Tuesday, nor has it committed to exactly how to spread the impact of an unprecedented multibillion-dollar revenue shortfall in 2020 over the next few years.” – Tom Pelissero, NFL.com
The Miami Dolphins are already in great position against the cap entering this offseason — they’re on the right side of the fence for 2021 salary cap expenditure as things currently stand. Projecting for a $175M cap floor, nearly half of the league (15 of 32 teams) is currently over the cap for 2021; but the Dolphins are one of the teams with comfortable spending power on their side. And, with an extra $10M or more of spending power on their side if the cap checks in even hire, it would allow the Dolphins to sign at least one more significant starter onto their roster — or, alternatively, add two modest starters at lower value positions.
The timeline here for Miami is much less urgent than what we see for other teams across the league; the Dolphins are in a position to let the chips fall where they may and then spend accordingly. There will be no frantic blitz to work underneath the cap or no magic contract extensions to defer guaranteed money into future years.
More money to spend is never a bad thing — but with the Dolphins already not having to worry about cutting talent just to meet the threshold, an extra $10M+ in spending power could free up an aggressive offseason for the Dolphins once again.