The NFL has officially set the salary cap number for the 2021 season.
According to multiple reports, NFL teams were informed by the league on Wednesday that the salary cap number is $182.5 million this year. It is down 8 percent from last season when it was $198.2 million.
This year’s salary cap would have dropped to $155 million had all the COVID-19 related losses been accounted for this past season, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano. However, the NFLPA and the league negotiated last summer that the cap wouldn’t drop below $175 million.
The Jets are in a terrific spot in terms of available cap space heading into free agency next week. Including the Henry Anderson cut and Marcus Maye’s $10.612 million franchise tag, they’ll have $69.3 million to spend this offseason, according to Over The Cap. That is the second-most in the league, only behind the Jaguars, who have $73.8 million in cap space.
New York could create more room with some additional cuts. Alex Lewis, Greg Van Roten, Ryan Griffin and possibly Jamison Crowder are all candidates to be cap casualties.
With the Jets being one of the few teams with money to spend, they can be aggressive in free agency. They have holes across the board, but most notably on the offensive line, at wide receiver and edge rusher.
Free agency begins once the new league year opens at 4 p.m. ET on March 17.
[listicle id=654249]