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The NFL informed teams on Wednesday that the per-team salary cap will increase at least $22 million for the 2025 season, falling somewhere between $277.5 million and $281.5 million. That is a notable increase from last season’s cap of $255.4 million, previously a record.
According to a memo issued by the NFL, the exact number hasn’t been finalized because the league and the NFL Players Association are still determining how they want to recoup a $9 million deferral that was smoothed out of last year’s cap. The union has the right to recover up to $4.5 million this year and the rest next year, according to the memo, so the league is waiting to hear back on how much of that figure will be included in the cap.
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The NFLPA and the NFL declined to comment for this story.
The salary cap projection nonetheless represents an increase of more than $53 million over the last two seasons. The sizable bump—the second consecutive significant increase—represents the health of the league which inked media rights agreements that were collectively worth $110 billion over 10 years in 2021. Last year’s $30.6 million cap jump was the largest of all time, since the cap included the league repaying team advancements and player benefit deferrals stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
A salary cap increase is generally good news for players and general managers, especially those who were previously budgeting a lower projected figure.
The league and NFLPA are expected to conclude their negotiations next week ahead of the scouting combine which starts on Feb. 27 in Indianapolis. It’s timely as the combine is where agents often set up meetings with general managers and soon-to-be free agents. The new league year, which ushers in the NFL’s free agency period, begins on March 12.
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