Tag: NFL salary cap

NFL confirms salary cap floor of $180M, Cowboys 12th-most space

The floor of the salary cap has been set at $180 million for the 2021 NFL season.

The NFL continues to work out the finer details of the salary cap moving forward for the 2021 season. With free agency less than a month away, Adam Schefter has reported that the cap floor will be set at $180 million, though there is still wiggle room for that to increase pending a full accounting review of largely fan-less season that just wrapped up.

The memo in it’s entirety:

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It took a pandemic to burst the ever-expanding bubble that was the salary cap’s growth. From 2013 on, it had risen at least $10 million a year before Covid-19 got hold of the world and threw everything into flux. Still, where does that leave the Dallas Cowboys?

Compared to some teams, 12 of which are currently over the cap, the Cowboys are sitting pretty. They currently rank No. 12 in terms of space in which to maneuver, the second-most in the NFC East.

Dallas has approximately $19 million in room according to Over the Cap. The Washington Football leads the division with just under $38 million (No. 5 overall). New York has just under $500,000 (No. 20) and the Eagles are around $47 million over the cap (No. 31).

Any increase going forward helps with the franchise tag of quarterback Dak Prescott hanging overhead again as the team enters its third offseason of negotiation.

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NFL and NFLPA set new 2021 salary-cap floor of $180 million

After taking a look at the revenue from 2020, the NFL and NFLP have raised the 2021 salary-cap floor by $5 million, giving some hope.

The NFL offseason has begun but teams have been left in a holding pattern as they wait for the 2021 salary cap to be set. With COVID-19 restricting fans from attending games last season, the 2021 salary cap is expected to lower for the first time in over a decade. But teams might have just gotten a little boost as the NFL and NFLPA have come together to set a higher floor for the 2021 salary cap.

According to a league memo sent to team executives and general managers and acquired by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the NFL and NFLPA have agreed to a new salary cap floor of $180 million. That’s a jump of $5 million from the previous floor of $175 million set before the 2020 regular season.

While the salary cap still hasn’t been formally set, increasing the floor gives hope that the 2021 salary cap will be higher than many had originally expected. That goes for Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta, who had said he expected the salary cap to be between $175 million and $180 million at his end-of-season press conference in late January.

According to Over The Cap, Baltimore has $162.8 million tied up in active contracts and dead money currently. At the new floor of $180 million, the Ravens would have the 13th-most cap space at just $17.19 million, barring any additional cuts or restructures.

While the new salary-cap floor might not make things any clearer for teams like Baltimore, it does provide a little hope that things won’t be as bad as expected. For the Ravens, that means they might be able to take a bigger dip in the free-agent market as they look to make a push for a championship in 2021.

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NFL sets the minimum salary cap at $180 million for the 2021 season

NFL sets the minimum salary cap at $180 million for the 2021 season

While the official figure for the 2021 NFL salary cap is not yet established, teams got a bit of good news on Thursday. In a memo sent to all 32 teams from the league office, the NFL established that the minimum figure for the cap in the upcoming season will be no less than $180 million.

That’s higher than the worst-case scenario of $175 million, which was the figure the NFL and NFLPA agreed upon as the lowest possible cap figure during negotiations last summer. The $180 million is still tens of millions under what the cap projected to be under normal business conditions, but the COVID-19 pandemic significantly lowered the NFL’s operating budgets and income.

The exact figure for the 2021 salary cap for all teams is expected to be established soon. Typically the cap figure gets announced during the annual scouting combine in late February, but that event has been canceled due to the pandemic.

NFL sets minimum salary cap at $180 million for the 2021 season

It’s at least $5 million above the worst-case scenario

While the official figure for the 2021 NFL salary cap is not yet established, teams got a bit of good news on Thursday. In a memo sent to all 32 teams from the league office, the NFL established that the minimum figure for the cap in the upcoming season will be no less than $180 million.

That’s higher than the worst-case scenario of $175 million, which was the figure the NFL and NFLPA agreed upon as the lowest possible cap figure during negotiations last summer. The $180 million is still tens of millions under what the cap projected to be under normal business conditions, but the COVID-19 pandemic significantly lowered the NFL’s operating budgets and income.

The exact figure for the 2021 salary cap for all teams is expected to be established soon. Typically the cap figure gets announced during the annual scouting combine in late February, but that event has been canceled due to the pandemic.

Report: NFL Salary cap expected to be approximately $180-$181M

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter the NFL’s cap figure is expected to be set at roughly $180-$181 million. Regardless, the Jags will be just fine.

The coronavirus pandemic not only affected the daily lives of people around the world, but it also impacted the sports community in 2020. As a result, the NFL’s salary cap floor was set at $175 million for 2021, which would be a decrease of $23.2 million from 2020.

However, with Super Bowl LV coming up today, fans received an update on what the NFL’s cap situation could look like in March. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, it’s expected to be in the $180-$181 million range, which is five to six million more than the floor set some time ago. Still, when considering the salary cap figure was $198.2 million in 2020, the decrease could cause the free agent market to be deeper, which is a plus for the Jags who went 1-15 last season.

Regardless of where the salary cap amount is set at, the Jacksonville Jaguars are expected to be in good shape as they have been long projected to lead the NFL in cap space. Per Over the Cap, the Jags are projected to be under the cap by an approximate figure of $77.5 million, putting them well ahead of the rest of the league. Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Colts came in with the second most available cap space with a $69.1 million figure.

The Jags are putting a coaching staff together at the moment, but it seems that process is almost complete. Once they wrap that up under new coach Urban Meyer, he will have to turn his attention to adding talent to the team in free agency as they have a lot of holes to plug. 

Report: 2021 salary cap expected to be roughly $180-$181M

The estimate is higher than the initial projection of $175 million.

With very limited fans in attendance this season and revenue slipping due to the pandemic, the NFL set the floor for the salary cap in 2021 at $175 million – which would be a $23.2 million drop from last season. Considering the cap typically increases by about 10% each year, a lower cap would require a lot of adjustments to be made by teams.

However, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported on Sunday that the salary cap is expected to be roughly $180-$181 million, which is higher than the initial estimate. The Rams would still be more than $20 million over the limit, which they will have to fix by March 17 when the new league year begins.

According to Over The Cap, the Rams would be $26.8 million over a salary cap of $180.5 million. However, that’s before the Jared Goff-Matthew Stafford trade becomes official. With Goff’s $22.2 million dead cap hit and Stafford’s $20 million cap hit, the Rams will be paying about $7.5 million in 2021 than they would’ve paid for Goff alone.

But they can restructure Stafford’s deal and possibly even add a void year in 2023, which would lower his cap hit to $4.86 million, thus saving $15.14 million. Either way, the Rams have a lot of work to do to get under the cap, whatever the number winds up being.

NFLPA Executive Director expects salary cap to be above $175 million floor

DeMaurice Smith of the NFLPA believes the NFL’s 2021 salary cap will be more than the $175 million floor.

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The NFL’s salary cap number following a season played mostly without fans in stadiums was always going to be an issue. A number that tends to rise about $10 million each year was more than likely to drop and cause salary cap crunches for a number of teams. While the league and the NFL Player’s Association agreed on a $175 million cap floor – about $23 million below the $198.1 million cap in 2020.

However, there could be some good news on the financial front for cash-strapped teams. The NFLPA’s executive director DeMaurice Smith on Sunday in a press conference with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he expects the cap to come in above the agreed upon floor.

This jibes with an earlier report from Pelissero where he indicated owners were optimistic about the cap coming in closer to $185 million.

While that still represents a steep drop from the previous season, an additional $10 million is significant for a team like the 49ers that has upwards of 40 players due to hit free agency and a couple key starters to try and bring back.

Over the Cap has the 49ers slated for $9,540,669 in cap room if the cap comes in at $176 million. That means they’d be at $18,540,669 if the number lands at $185 million. Just over $18 million in room isn’t an astronomical figure, but it certainly gives them some needed additional flexibility.

General manager John Lynch in his season-ending press conference told reporters the team was working as though the salary cap number would come in at the floor.

“We’re operating under the premise of the floor, which is 175 (million dollars),” Lynch said on Jan. 4 in a video conference. “We felt like that was best to operate off of that and kind of formulate our plans off of that. If it’s anything on top, that’s gravy for us.”

There are enough ways to maneuver and manipulate the cap that by the time the dust settles San Francisco should have enough space to fill out their roster relatively comfortably. However, if the number stays down around that $175 million floor, it’ll mean the 49ers have a few more tough financial decisions to make.

Rams projected to be way over salary cap, but there are teams in worse shape

The Rams are projected to be way over the salary cap if it drops as low as $175 million.

One click glance at the projected salary cap standing of each team in the NFL is all it takes to realize the Rams might be in some trouble. Over The Cap has projected the cap to be set at $176 million, which is $1 million higher than the floor the league set for the 2021 league year.

If the $176 million figure holds true, the Rams will be $31.16 million over the cap, according to OTC. That means they’ll need to shed more than $30 million in financial commitments before the start of the new league year, which is on March 17 at 4 p.m. ET – the same time and date that free agency will begin.

The Rams can begin trimming their cap commitments by cutting players such as Kenny Young and Brian Allen, and they can also restructure the deals of Aaron Donald, Jared Goff and Robert Woods to free up more money.

Even still, the Rams won’t have much spending money for free agency. But as dire as things seem for Los Angeles, there are teams in worse shape. The Saints are projected to be $112.2 million over the cap, the Eagles are set to be more than $53 million over the limit and the Steelers (-$34.9 million) and Falcons (-$36.2 million) are both in deeper holes than the Rams.

In total, 13 teams are projected to be over the salary cap as of now, including the Rams. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Jaguars ($73 million), Colts ($64.9 million), Jets ($63.5 million and Patriots ($58.5 million) are the four teams projected to have the most spending money.

They’ll probably be among the most aggressive teams in the league come free agency, so the Rams won’t be able to get into a bidding war with those teams for players such as John Johnson, Leonard Floyd or Troy Hill.

Just like everyone else, the Rams will figure it out. However, navigating the offseason in this unprecedented situation will be challenging, to say the least.

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Ravens GM Eric DeCosta expecting 2021 salary cap to be between $175M-$180M

The Baltimore Ravens salary cap is expected to be tight as GM Eric DeCosta believes the 2021 salary cap will be at $175M-$180M

The offseason is once again upon the NFL as all but two teams are out of contention. Front offices are managing their rosters, looking at pending free agents, and really starting to focus on the 2021 NFL draft. But this offseason is unlike many before it as no one really knows what the salary cap is going to look like.

With the coronavirus pandemic impacting league revenue, the 2021 salary cap is expected to go down for the first time in over a decade after growing by $10 million last year. With all the uncertainty around how much money each team will have to spend, it’s creating quite a bit of anxiety about the offseason.

The common theme of Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta’s end-of-season press conference on Monday was one of conjecture. While DeCosta has never been one to reveal too much of his strategy in these discussions, seemingly every answer was presented with an asterisk thanks to the unknown salary cap. Whether it was about free agency or what cuts could be coming in the next few months, DeCosta kept everything vague while pointing back to the salary cap.

“So, as far as that goes with the salary cap, there are some unique challenges this year with not even knowing what the cap is going to be,” DeCosta said during his video conference with reporters Monday. “The cap could be $175 [million] [or] $185 [million] – we don’t really know yet. That’s going to pose some problems.”

As I discussed in my preview of Baltimore’s salary cap, the Ravens are one of only a handful of teams that actually have positive cap space available right now. Nearly half the league is staring at a negative number based on current predictions of a $176 million salary cap. But just because Baltimore has money to spend doesn’t mean they’re flush with cash either.

“We anticipate that number being somewhere between $15-20 million,” DeCosta continued. “However, that’s not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, and that’s based on a projection of between $175 million and $180 million dollars of salary cap room.”

If the salary cap is limited as expected, the free-agent market could be far more interesting as well. If teams don’t have money to spend, top free agents could be willing to sign short-term deals with Super Bowl contenders in order to boost their value when the cap eventually does return to normal. Of course, creative general managers could double down on the hopes the salary cap booms next offseason by backloading contracts.

Regardless of what the 2021 salary cap ends up being, DeCosta and the Ravens’ front office appear to have some plans in place. Hopefully, Baltimore has a little more money to spend than they’re predicting and can add more talent to an already impressive roster.

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Falcons have third lowest cap rollover from 2020

New Falcons head coach Arthur Smith and general manager Terry Fontenot have their hands full trying to get the roster in line with the projected salary cap for 2021.

New Falcons head coach Arthur Smith and general manager Terry Fontenot have their hands full trying to get the roster in line with the projected salary cap for 2021. While the actual cap number has yet to be determined, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a drastic decrease in spending for each team.

Per Field Yates and the NFL Players Association public salary report, the Falcons will see a cap rollover of $1.7 million. The cap rollover is simply the amount of unused cap space from the previous season for the team to add to their cap total for the following season.

Already roughly $36 million over the projected cap for 2021, the $1.7 million in cap relief won’t make much of a difference in how the Falcons approach the offseason and player transactions.

The projected cap for 2021 will be no lower than $175 million but is rumored to being around $180 million. Having a cap total in the $180 million range would give the Falcons slightly more space, but still require the team to make cuts and restructures to get in line with the cap.

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