The 2021 NFL offseason will be marked by a decreasing salary cap for the first time. After the cap was $198.2 million in 2020, it could drop as much as $18 million to $180 million.
However, teams do get a little relief because they can carry over any unused cap space from last season to next season.
The NFLPA shared what each team carries over to 2021 on social media.
A look at the salary cap carryover for 2021: pic.twitter.com/Q5JELBem2u
— NFLPA (@NFLPA) February 19, 2021
The Arizona Cardinals had $5 million in unused space. That will get added to this year. The league average of carryover money is $9.8 million.
The actual amount of cap space the Cardinals are calculated to have varies from site to site. Over the Cap has the Cardinals with $11.8 million in cap space, but it is uncertain whether that includes the carryover total from last year.
Spotrac, assuming a cap of $185 million, gives the Cardinals $19.6 million in cap space. That would be $14.6 million if the cap ends up being $180 million.
The $5 million will help but they still will need to make moves to free up more space for free agency.
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