Story by
NFL salary cap 2025: How high is it, teams with most space, more to know
- Story by
- NFL salary cap 2025: How high is it, teams with most space, more to know
This story has been updated with new information.
Every NFL team will be looking to improve its roster during the 2025 offseason. Some will have more resources with which to do so than others.
Among the most notable of those resources will be cap space for 2025.
Advertisement
There exists a wide dichotomy of financial situations across the NFL. Some, like the New England Patriots , have plenty of financial resources to commit to their rebuild. Others, like the New Orleans Saints , will need to make some significant cuts simply to get their balance of available cap space back toward zero.
Could some of these cap-strapped teams be bailed out by a higher-than-projected league-wide salary cap for 2025? Here's what to know about the NFL's salary cap for 2025 and how it compares to previous seasons.
2025 NFL FREE AGENCY RANKINGS: Top 25 players set to hit market this offseason
What is the NFL salary cap 2025?
The NFL hasn't officially announced its salary cap for 2025 yet but it will fall in the range of $277.5-$281.5 million, a source tells USA TODAY's Tyler Dragon. That would be a slight increase over the $265-$275 million range reported by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported in December 2024.
Advertisement
Graziano's range represents a $22.1-$26.1 million increase in the salary cap that was in place during the 2024 NFL season. Either end of the estimate would be less than the record $30.6 million increase NFL teams saw from 2023 to 2024, which was buoyed by new TV deals and a return to normalcy in attendance with the league further removed from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NFL officially announced its salary cap for 2024 on Feb. 23, 2024, so NFL fans won't have to wait much longer for the hard number to be revealed.
NFL salary cap by year
The NFL's salary cap has more than doubled since 2014, contributing to the explosion of lucrative contracts given to the league's star players.
Advertisement
Only once has the NFL's salary decreased from year to year during that period. That came in the 2021 NFL offseason, which saw a $15.7 million decrease in funds that stemmed mainly from limited attendance during the COVID-impacted 2020 season. The NFL quickly bounced back from that downturn, witnessing an increase of $25.7 million the following offseason.
Below is a year-by-year look at the NFL's salary cap since 2011, according to data from NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and USA TODAY's Tyler Dragon:
-
2011: $120.375 million
-
2012: $120.6 million
-
2013: $123 million
-
2014: $133 million
-
2015: $143.28 million
-
2016: $155.27 million
-
2017: $167 million
-
2018: $177.2 million
-
2019: $188.2 million
-
2020: $198.2 million
-
2021: $182.5 million
-
2022: $208.2 million
-
2023: $224.8 million
-
2024: $255.4 million
-
2025: $277.5-$281.5 million*
* Projection .
2025 NFL TRADE CANDIDATES: Top players who could be dealt in offseason
Advertisement
NFL salary cap space 2025
Below is a look at every team's projected salary cap space for 2025. All salary cap figures are via OverTheCap.com , which projects a $279.5 million salary cap.
-
New England Patriots : $126.8 million
-
Las Vegas Raiders : $99.5 million
-
Washington Commanders : $82.2 million
-
Arizona Cardinals : $76.4 million
-
Los Angeles Chargers : $70.4 million
-
Chicago Bears : $69 million
-
Minnesota Vikings : $63.3 million
-
Pittsburgh Steelers : $60.3 million
-
Cincinnati Bengals : $53.1 million
-
Detroit Lions : $51.9 million
-
Tennessee Titans : $51.1 million
-
San Francisco 49ers : $50.7 million
-
Green Bay Packers : $49.1 million
-
New York Giants : $48.3 million
-
Los Angeles Rams : $44.3 million
-
Denver Broncos : $41.8 million
-
Jacksonville Jaguars : $38.2 million
-
Indianapolis Colts : $35.2 million
-
Carolina Panthers : $24.8 million
-
New York Jets : $23.9 million
-
Philadelphia Eagles : $19.6 million
-
Baltimore Ravens : $13 million
-
Tampa Bay Buccaneers : $8.4 million
-
Kansas City Chiefs : $7.9 million
-
Houston Texans : $5 million
-
Dallas Cowboys : $2.5 million
-
Miami Dolphins : $1.6 million
-
Atlanta Falcons : -$5 million
-
Seattle Seahawks : -$6.5 million
-
Buffalo Bills : -$10.1 million
-
Cleveland Browns : -$24.3 million
-
New Orleans Saints : -$47.1 million
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL salary cap, explained: How much all 32 teams have to spend in 2025
