The latest example of the NFL’s continued growth came in the form of projected salary cap numbers for the 2019 season.
On Tuesday, the league informed its 32 franchises that the cap is forecast to be in the range of $187.0 million to $191.1 million for next season. That represents an increase of 40 percent from five years ago when the cap stood at $133 million.
The salary cap projections are out: $187M to $191.1M. https://t.co/tW7MC48kPz
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 11, 2018
NFL Salary Cap Projected to Be at Least $187 Million in 2019
It marks the sixth straight year in which the year-over-year increase in the cap exceeded $10 million per team. What it highlights is the fact that the league continues to be a juggernaut when it comes to revenue.
The financials from the NFL’s most recently completed season, 2017, lend credence to this. Per Darren Rovell, each team pulled in $255 million in national revenue that year. Overall, that represents total league revenue of $8.16 billion which is a 4.9 percent increase from the previous season.
The enhanced salary cap numbers for 2019 shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Revenue is expected to continue to climb given the current TV deals. FOX is paying more for the NFL’s Thursday Night Football package than CBS and NBC did in prior years.
Each team’s effective salary cap number can differ from the actual base cap figure. This is due to carryover where teams can take unused cap space from the year before and add it to their cap for the upcoming season. Last year, teams carried over nearly $340 million onto their 2018 base cap.
Below is a listing of teams ranked by available cap space heading into the 2019 season, per OverTheCap.com.
2019 Projected Cap Space
- Indianapolis Colts – $124,408,366
- New York Jets – $106,605,475
- Buffalo Bills – $90,850,183
- Cleveland Browns – $87,039,282
- Oakland Raiders – $81,146,438
- Houston Texans – $74,422,828
- Arizona Cardinals – $72,019,508
- San Francisco 49ers – $66,239,795
- Seattle Seahawks – $63,625,211
- Dallas Cowboys – $54,956,688
- Cincinnati Bengals – $54,199,199
- Denver Broncos – $48,626,038
- Tennessee Titans – $47,343,721
- Green Bay Packers – $45,285,666
- Kansas City Chiefs – $44,425,969
- Detroit Lions – $40,847,722
- Los Angeles Rams – $37,474,746
- Baltimore Ravens – $32,955,536
- New York Giants – $32,662,476
- Los Angeles Chargers – $29,309,877
- Pittsburgh Steelers – $28,646,319
- Carolina Panthers – $27,701,931
- New England Patriots – $25,858,194
- Atlanta Falcons – $25,376,688
- Miami Dolphins – $21,129,134
- Chicago Bears – $20,254,111
- Washington Redskins – $19,964,968
- New Orleans Saints – $19,088,391
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers – $18,922,759
- Minnesota Vikings – $11,354,411
- Jacksonville Jaguars – ($7,098,827)
- Philadelphia Eagles – ($8,961,940)
