NFL Free Agency 2024
NFL Sets New Salary Cap at $255.4 Million
Huge $30 Million Cap Increase Per Team
Frank Coyle / Head scout
www.draftinsiders.com
The NFL has surprisingly set the new salary cap for 2024 at $255.4M, an incredible $30.6 million increase from the 2023 team cap. That is the biggest cap increase since the salary cap started in 1994 when the original salary cap was only $34.6 million. This increase was a surprise to most NFL executives who expected an estimate in the $20 million dollar area. The announcement was also earlier than any year with the annual new cap always at the end of February. The recent caps since the Covid years have been held down by the paybacks.
This huge increase reflects the new television money where the NFL has expanded on multiple TV streaming platforms. The salary cap has grown at a steady pace until the Covid pandemic occurred. Future increases will probably be in the expected $25M range.
Teams over the salary cap will get some relief this year with 8 clubs in the red currently. They must be in positive cap money for the March 13th Free agency opening day. This offseason may see the biggest turnover of veteran releases on high contracts for teams to operate in the early FA period which starts March 13th. Tender offers will increase over expectations, in addition to proven performance escalators and rookie contracts.
DraftInsiders.com will have an extensive 2024 NFL Free Agency report in March
Free for Full subscribers
We are in the Franchise and Transitional tag period which numbers of veterans could increase with the enormous higher cap in place. Teams are diligently combing their roster to restructure veteran contracts to create more salary cap space. The Saints restructured QB Derek Carr’s contract saving $23M for the new cap period.
The upcoming free agency period will be a pivotal time for NFL teams to reload for the 2024 season. The increased cap and restructured veteran contracts can make an amazing new makeover for clubs to compete for the NFL playoffs. The early negotiating window allows teams to speak to free agents and sign them within the first days of the free agency period. It will change the NFL landscape tremendously along with the Trading period which begins the same day. Those additions and losses will be the foundation of rosters entering the important NFL Draft.
Visit – Overthecap.com
2024 Salary Cap Space
Cap Space = (Team Salary Cap) – (Active Cap Spending) – (Dead Money)
Team Salary Cap = (Base Salary Cap) + (Carryover) ± (Adjustments)
Effective Cap Space: the cap space a team will have after signing at least 51 players and its projected rookie class to its roster.
Base Salary Cap: $255,400,000 Statistics from Overthecap.com
Team Cap Space Effective Cap Space # Active Cap Spending Dead Money
Commanders $79,614,671 $67,806,345 49 $171,582,086 $11,933,514
Titans $78,655,381 $72,565,839 51 $152,102,981 $31,850,988
Bears $78,335,157 $66,248,878 51 $170,014,987 $10,539,071
Patriots $77,955,006 $69,213,592 55 $165,759,423 $11,707,888
Colts $72,337,573 $68,132,343 62 $181,109,345 $8,363,623
Texans $67,583,290 $64,174,292 54 $174,969,614 $13,778,652
Lions $57,614,821 $49,803,411 45 $177,167,136 $23,054,507
Cardinals $53,054,463 $41,905,110 62 $198,221,670 $14,151,579
Bengals $51,020,373 $45,584,242 49 $211,931,359 $1,775,689
Bucs $43,682,067 $40,566,748 52 $192,531,646 $21,888,078
Rams $43,110,695 $39,225,710 51 $212,388,824 $3,902,765
Raiders $42,936,109 $38,343,993 56 $204,052,911 $15,002,160
Vikings $35,807,132 $30,682,041 54 $222,260,496 $3,508,541
Panthers $34,572,274 $32,520,236 55 $215,359,328 $9,230,998
Falcons $33,004,013 $27,228,994 57 $223,994,196 $3,023,102
Giants $30,801,691 $22,999,424 51 $209,557,237 $17,542,850
Eagles $27,354,811 $23,244,756 64 $222,789,618 $7,278,900
Jaguars $24,683,167 $20,520,846 52 $237,026,468 $806,259
Chiefs $18,194,240 $15,451,427 54 $234,875,275 $3,857,097
Ravens $16,631,328 $12,871,589 50 $231,810,045 $9,096,530
Seahawks $12,969,647 $7,910,407 49 $247,867,087 $237,492
Jets $12,756,122 $8,169,238 52 $229,058,404 $18,331,968
Steelers $9,005,846 $5,304,852 63 $239,194,713 $9,539,633
Packers $2,340,288 ($2,179,969) 60 $244,695,581 $15,118,132
Teams currently over the cap
49ers ($5,066,251) ($8,344,657) 56 $287,715,903 $9,145,613
Browns ($7,458,897) ($8,634,913) 57 $279,131,620 $14,972,782
Cowboys ($9,933,127) ($12,985,490) 58 $255,464,019 $14,771,496
Broncos ($16,811,078) ($20,573,431) 61 $263,994,831 $9,693,124
Chargers ($25,607,797) ($35,160,383) 49 $263,988,882 $24,556,666
Dolphins ($27,919,894) ($36,468,784) 44 $267,655,998 $16,809,238
Saints ($42,089,497) ($46,149,348) 55 $297,076,846 $2,840,956
Bills ($43,815,909) ($47,064,828) 53 $288,533,131 $12,221,717
Frank Coyle is a long-time scout with nationwide ties with NFL and college coaches, scouts and player agents. He is a member of the FWAA and voter in major college player awards – Heisman, Outland, Nagurski, Lombardi, Thorpe, Biletnikoff etc. for the past 30 years. He writes College Football Mondays weekly during the season.
He has a new column ‘The Word on the Street’ dedicated for the NFL Draft and Free agency insight and news with unique content during January through May. He was a longtime scouting consultant for the Senior Bowl, the nation’s premier postseason All-star game. He does sports radio shows for CBS and ESPN on a year-round basis related to NFL and College Football especially during the postseason team and All-star Bowl time. He has worked for CBS Sports, NBC Sports, Yahoo and Rivals sports publications and web sites
