The NFL salary cap broke the $300 million barrier.
Free agents and their representatives had plenty to celebrate Friday when the NFL announced that the salary cap per team in 2026 is $301.2 million.
That figure represents a 7.9 percent year-over-year increase, a 65 percent increase over 2021 when league revenues were down because of COVID-19, and nearly double what the cap was a decade ago ($155.2 million in 2016).
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Since every team got the same boost, the teams with the most to spend didn’t change.
Roger Goodell is pictured during his Feb. 9 press conference. AP
The tweaks were made to teams’ cap space, which now has the Jets (No. 3) with $88.7 million and the Giants (No. 20) with $978,921, according to OvertheCap.com.
The Giants’ cap space is expected to grow exponentially via salary-cap casualties and contract restructures before the March 9 start of free agency.
After the Patriots’ NFL-high $364 million free-agent spending spree last offseason helped fuel a turnaround from 4-13 to AFC champions under first-year head coach Mike Vrabel, other teams with new head coaches flush with cap space could be contenders to overspend for a quick fix.
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Look no further than Robert Saleh’s Titans ($94.7 million) and Klint Kubiak’s Raiders ($89 million) — the only two teams with more flexibility than the Jets.
With the new salary cap set, the franchise tag cost for a running back — the Jets’ Breece Hall, for example — is $14.2 million.
The transition tag is $11.3 million.
Teams also will spend $77.6 million each in player benefits, according to the league.
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