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The NFL’s salary cap is expected to take a big jump in 2022, and it should benefit the Kansas City Chiefs.
Ahead of the start of the 2022 NFL season, the NFL and NFLPA agreed to a salary cap ceiling of $208.2 million. This was a decision made to help make up for the revenue shortfall from the 2020 NFL season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2020 to 2021, the NFL’s salary cap fell by $15.7 million, primarily due to the lack of fans in stadiums due to the pandemic. The lowered number left teams scrambling to get their salary cap in order ahead of the 2021 NFL season. In prior years, the salary cap had been growing by roughly $10 million per season, and teams had planned their spending with that consistent growth in mind.
On Sunday, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported that the salary cap is expected to hit that $208.2 million ceiling in 2022. That’s a $25.7 million jump from the 2021 NFL season’s salary cap and the biggest single-season increase since the 2006 NFL season when the cap increased by over $17 million.
According to Over The Cap, the Chiefs are now projected to have just under $30 million in cap space for 2022, which is right in the middle of the pack among NFL teams. That’s before Brett Veach and the front office does any sort of conversions or releases players with bloated salary cap numbers.
There has been some speculation that the team could take advantage of built-in out years in contracts for players like Frank Clark and Anthony Hitchens. Their releases could save the team a maximum of $28 million for the upcoming season, which in turn would bring the total cap space for Kansas City up to nearly $60 million for 2022.
This would put the Chiefs in a good situation when it comes to extending players like Tyrann Mathieu, Orlando Brown Jr. and others who are in a contract year. They could even opt to add some outside free agents at certain positions if they so choose. Ultimately, the Chiefs will have a lot more flexibility this offseason with the salary cap set to hit its ceiling.
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