The NFL has set its salary cap figure for the 2025 season, and as had already been generally reported, it has taken yet another big year-over-year leap.
Last week, the league office informed teams that the 2025 salary cap would fall between $277.5 million and $281.5 million per team, and the final figure split those two goalposts down the middle at $279.2 million. That is a significantly higher number than team officials had been anticipating prior to last week's memo; the original estimate had the number potentially as low as $265 million.
As has been the case for several seasons in a row, the cap made a big jump from the previous year's figure, which in this case was $255.4 million. The NFL's salary cap took a temporary dip in 2021 following the COVID-affected season to $182.5 million, but in the four years since has increased by a total of $96.7 million. In contrast, the salary cap increased by a total of $77.825 million between the start of a new collective bargaining agreement in 2009 and another CBA in 2020.
Obviously, the rise in the salary cap gives every team some added degree of flexibility for the upcoming free agency period, which starts on March 12. According to Spotrac, there were seven teams that were projected to have negative salary cap space before the larger-than-expected bump, and now there are only five: Atlanta, Seattle, Buffalo, Cleveland and New Orleans. The Saints, who have the most work to do to get compliant with the cap limit before March 12, are now estimated at being approximately $47 million over. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers estimated cap space on Spotrac is $9,033,345.
NFL teams, particularly those dealing with tight salary cap restrictions, got some good news on Wednesday. The league's per-team salary cap is about to make another big jump forward in 2025.
Tampa Bay is facing a list of 23 potential unrestricted free agents, which grew by one earlier this week when the team declined its second-year option on safety Jordan Whitehead's contract. Also among those potential free agents is wide receiver Chris Godwin, linebacker Lavonte David and the team's starting left guard from 2024, Ben Bredeson. The Buccaneers and Godwin recently agreed to move the date of the automatic voiding of his 2025 contract to March 12 in order to extend the negotiating period on a potential new deal, and General Manager Jason Licht said on Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine that the two sides would "hopefully…come to an agreement" on a new deal.
