The Jacksonville Jaguars may stink now and could be rebuilding next year, but at least the salary cap will be increasing in 2020. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the league has informed all 32 teams that the salary cap is projected to be in the range of $196.8 million to $201.2 million next season.
The increase would mark a rise of $8-13 million, as the cap for 2019 was set at $188.2 million. It also marks a 40% increase from the 2015 season when the cap was set at $143.3 million.
The NFL informed clubs today that projections for the 2020 salary cap are in the range of $196.8 million to $201.2 million. This marks a 40% increase from five years ago in the 2015 season ($143.3 million).
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 10, 2019
As of now, Over the Cap is projecting the Jags to have just over $1.5 million available in cap space with the cap projected at $200 million, which would give them the third-least amount of cap space in the NFL next season. The only teams that are projected to have less will be over the cap in the Atlanta Falcons (by just under $1 million) and the Minnesota Vikings (by just over $1.5 million). However, when adding in the new figures mentioned by Rapoport, the Jags could have anywhere from roughly $2.7 million available, or they could be over the cap (a.k.a. in the negative) by roughly $1.7 million.
Most predict the Jags to clean house and have a new front office, and if so, that’s not a lot of money for the next regime to work with. Of course, much of that is due to how the current regime has recklessly spent in free-agency. They will be dealing with a cap number of slightly under $22 million from quarterback Nick Foles, who isn’t even starting at the moment.
Luckily, there are several other veterans they can move on from (or restructure their deals) like Brandon Linder, Marcell Dareus, Calais Campbell and A.J. Bouye, which would help their salary cap tremendously.
The biggest name the Jags have to focus on re-signing is defensive end Yannick Ngakoue. In guessing, he will probably be looking for a deal like that of DeMarcus Lawrence, which is a five-year deal that guarantees $65 million. They also have the option to franchise him, too. Based off last year’s tag figures, that would cost upwards of $17 million.