The NFL officially set the 2022 salary cap ceiling at $208.2 million on Wednesday. However, while we now know the maximum in which teams will have, the floor for next year’s salary cap has yet to be determined, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
The NFL and NFLPA have agreed to a $208.2 million salary cap ceiling for 2022, per source.
There is no cap floor as of now. The sides agreed last August to spread the COVID-related revenue shortfall from 2020 over several years, and the cap dropped to $182.5M this year.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 26, 2021
Where do the Falcons stand in this regard? This increase in salary cap space comes as good news for the team after spending much of the offseason getting out of a $30 million cap deficit. Here is a rundown of Atlanta’s current roster for 2022. Since the cap floor has yet to be set, Over The Cap uses the max value $208.2 million in their projection.
Needless to say, the lower the cap, the less money the team will have at their disposal.
| 2022 Cap Space Projection: $ (4,870,866) | |
| Player | Cap Hit |
| Matt Ryan | $ 48,662,500 |
| Grady Jarrett | $ 23,833,000 |
| Jake Matthews | $ 23,689,200 |
| Julio Jones | $ 19,263,000 |
| Deion Jones | $ 18,657,059 |
| Calvin Ridley | $ 11,116,000 |
| Tyeler Davison | $ 5,013,334 |
| Chris Lindstrom | $ 4,680,059 |
| AJ Terrell | $ 3,251,306 |
| Kaleb McGary | $ 3,266,373 |
| Mike Davis | $ 3,250,000 |
| Marlon Davidson | $ 1,885,193 |
| Keith Smith | $ 1,666,668 |
| Matt Hennessey | $ 1,293,593 |
| Kendall Sheffield | $ 1,154,922 |
| John Cominsky | $ 1,087,098 |
| Mykal Walker | $ 1,081,521 |
| Jaylinn Hawkins | $ 1,061,728 |
| Qadree Ollison | $ 1,042,891 |
| Sterling Hofrichter | $ 919,435 |
| Kobe Jones** | $ 828,333 |
| Kion Smith** | $ 828,333 |
| Erroll Thompson | $ 827,667 |
| JR Pace** | $ 827,167 |
| Ryan Neuzil** | $ 826,667 |
| Austin Trammell** | $ 826,667 |
| Javian Hawkins | $ 826,667 |
| Alani Pututau** | $ 826,667 |
| Caleb Huntley** | $ 826,667 |
| Joe Sculthorpe** | $ 826,000 |
| John Raine** | $ 825,500 |
| Marcus Murphy** | $ 825,500 |
| William Sweet** | $ 825,500 |
| Dwayne Johnson Jr.** | $ 825,500 |
| Antonio Nunn | $ 825,500 |
| Zac Dawe** | $ 825,500 |
| Dorian Etheridge** | $ 825,500 |
| Feleipe Franks | $ 825,500 |
| Bryce Hargrove** | $ 825,500 |
| Kyle Pitts* | $ 7,479,679 |
| Richie Grant* | $ 1,879,179 |
| Jalen Mayfield* | $ 1,183,640 |
| Darren Hall* | $ 1,062,189 |
| Drew Dalman* | $ 1,019,181 |
| Ta’Quon Graham* | $ 912,653 |
| Ade Ogundeji* | $ 885,039 |
| Avery Williams* | $ 885,039 |
| Frank Darby* | $ 876,123 |
| Top 51-man Roster projection | $ 213,070,866 |
*= Signifies (drafted) rookie contract projection per OTC
**= Signifies players I don’t think will make it to the 2022 season in Atlanta
As you can see, once the Falcons make room to sign their 2021 rookie class, the team will once again be over the cap entering 2022. Although, the method the team uses to create cap space will also play a role in next year’s cap.
Trading Julio Jones, which seems more and more likely each day, will drop his his dead cap hit from $19 million to just $15.5 million. The difference of $3,763,000 isn’t enough to make the team cap compliant. Also, Dante Fowler’s $4.6 million dead cap hit in 2022 will bring the team total to $20,166,666. Fowler’s cap hit is already reflected in the roster chart above.
Another option to keeping Jones in 2021 would be to give Grady Jarrett a max restructure. However, this will also cause the Falcons to lose over $6 million in cap space next season.
There are also the players who are unlikely to stay in Atlanta beyond the 2021 season. These players are noted in the roster chart above and their absence from the team will net a savings of $11.5 million. This alone would bring the Falcons under the cap by $6.7 million.
Again, this projection uses the max value, and we can expect the real life outcome to be lower. So unfortunately, the Falcons will be operating with little to no money next offseason as well.
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