With the new league year not far away, teams have found out exactly what the cap ceiling is for the coming campaign. The NFL and NFLPA have arrived at a 2025 cap of $279.2MM, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The league has since confirmed the news. 
In December, clubs were planning on seeing a jump to the $265MM-$275MM range. More recently, a league memo made it clear a larger increase was coming. The 2025 cap was known to be checking in between $277.5MM and $281.5MM as of last week, and now a final figure has emerged. This represents another new water mark in spending limits as the NFL’s revenue continues to soar.
Last year saw a record jump in the salary cap, as it spiked by $30.6MM to $255.4MM. This time around, a $23.8MM increase will give teams more spending power on the open market and a stronger chance of retaining pending free agents. For the top players set to become available next month in particular, today’s news confirms that lucrative new deals await them.
The 2011 CBA brought about gradual growth in the cap compared to the spikes seen since the ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement in 2020. The pandemic led to a temporary drop in the cap ceiling, but since then the league has seen considerable jumps on an annual basis. The expansion of the regular season to 17 games and adding two contests to wild-card weekend have played key roles, of course. The same is also true for the NFL’s new media rights deals and the revenue brought in from gambling.
The quarterback, receiver and defensive tackle markets have surged recently in response to the regular jumps in the cap. As things stand, Justin Jefferson is the league’s top earner for non-quarterbacks at $35MM per year, but Ja’Marr Chase could overtake him soon. The edge rush position will be worth watching as the 2025 offseason unfolds; Micah Parsons is set to ink a monster Cowboys extension, while the likes of Myles Garrett (with the Browns or an acquiring team), T.J. Watt (Steelers) and Trey Hendrickson (Bengals) are in line to receive notable raises on their next pacts.
Now that the 2025 figure is known, here is a look at how the cap has risen since 2011:
- 2011: $120.4MM
- 2012: $120.6MM
- 2013: $123.6MM
- 2014: $133MM
- 2015: $143.3MM
- 2016: $155.3MM
- 2017: $167MM
- 2018: $177.2MM
- 2019: $188.2MM
- 2020: $198.2MM
- 2021: $182.5MM
- 2022: $208.2MM
- 2023: $224.8MM
- 2024: $255.4MM
- 2025: $279.2MM
International games pay! The league can thank Shad for opening up those games.