The NFL has raised its salary cap floor to $180MM for 2021 (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). Previously, the cap minimum was set to be $175MM for the coming year.
The raising of the minimum could be a promising sign for the salary cap maximum in the coming year. The limit is still set to drop for the first time in years, but a higher floor could mean for a higher ceiling. Over the last few months, we’ve been hearing cap estimates of $180MM. Now, that’s the minimum spend, which, speculatively, could mean a cap of $190MM+.
Last year, the salary cap was $198.2MM for each of the league’s 32 teams. The league had been steadily increasing the cap every year since 2010, when the NFL was uncapped. If not for the pandemic, the 2021 cap would have easily exceeded $210MM.
There’s no word on when the cap max will be set, but it will be determined sometime between now and the new league year, which begins on March 17th. If the NFL is able to iron out new television deals with their broadcasting partners in the next few weeks, the cap could be positioned for a substantial jump in 2022. Reportedly, the league is aiming for a total of $100 billion over the next ten-year extension.
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