Who Has The Most Salary Cap Space in the NFL?

The NFL offseason is in full swing and teams are already making moves to create cap space. Who has the most cap space in the NFL right now?

Introduction

In the NFL, teams must stay under a salary cap while trying to field the best team possible. The salary cap is the total amount of money that a team can spend on player salaries for a season. It is determined by the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement with the players’ union and usually increases slightly from year to year.

The team that has the most salary cap space in a given season is not necessarily the team that will win the Super Bowl. However, having more salary cap space does give a team more flexibility to sign good players and make other moves that can improve their chances of winning.

So, which NFL team had the most salary cap space heading into the 2019 season? That would be the Oakland Raiders, who had an estimated $79.8 million in cap space. The Raiders were followed by the Indianapolis Colts ($77.1 million), Cleveland Browns ($74.6 million), Tampa Bay Buccaneers ($74.4 million), and New York Jets ($72.3 million).

While the Raiders had the most salary cap space in 2019, they did not have a great season on the field. They finished with a record of 4-12 and missed the playoffs.

The Teams

NFL teams are limited in the amount of money that they can spend on their players by a salary cap. The salary cap is the total amount of money that a team can spend on their players’ salaries for the year. It is calculated by the NFL each year, and it is based on the league’s revenue.

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns have the most salary cap space in the NFL heading into the 2020 offseason. The Browns currently have $66.3 million in cap space, which is more than enough to sign a big-name free agent or two.

The Browns are coming off a strong 2019 season in which they went 10-6 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Cleveland is poised to be a contenders for years to come, and they have the financial flexibility to make a major splash this offseason.

Some of the top free agents that the Browns could target include defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, wide receiver Amari Cooper, and linebacker Cory Littleton. Cleveland also has several key players from their 2019 squad that are due for new contracts, including running back Nick Chubb and linebacker Joe Schobert.

The Browns are in a great position heading into the 2020 offseason and they have the ability to greatly improve their roster with some smart signings.

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts currently have the most salary cap space in the NFL at over $85 million. They are followed by the Cleveland Browns, who have just under $80 million in cap space. The Colts have been active in free agency so far this offseason, signing several high-profile players to big-money contracts.

New York Jets

The New York Jets have the most salary cap space in the NFL heading into the 2020 season. The Jets have over $79 million in cap space, which is more than enough to sign a couple of marquee free agents. The Jets will likely use their cap space to sign a top-tier wide receiver and a defensive player.

San Francisco 49ers

As of March 12th, 2020, the San Francisco 49ers have the most salary cap space in the NFL at $74,848,893. They are followed by the Indianapolis Colts at $69,687,602, and the New Orleans Saints at $67,147,933.

Other Teams with a Lot of Cap Space

While the Browns have the most salary cap space in the NFL, they are not the only team with a lot of room to makes some moves. The Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and New York Jets all have over $50 million in available salary cap space heading into the 2019 season. That is a lot of room to sign some big-name free agents or extend some of their own players who may be due for new contracts.

The Lions have been one of the more active teams so far in free agency, signing Defensive End Trey Flowers to a five-year, $90 million deal. They also signed linebacker Justin Houston to a two-year deal worth $24 million. They still have plenty of room to make more moves and could be a team to watch heading into 2019.

How Cap Space is Used

In the NFL, a team’s salary cap is the total amount of money that the team is allowed to spend on player salaries for the year. The salary cap is set by the NFL each year and is based on a number of factors, including the league’s revenue, the previous year’s salary cap, and other factors.

Each team must stay under their salary cap in order to be eligible to play in the NFL. The salary cap is not a hard limit, however, and teams are allowed to go over their salary cap in certain situations. For example, teams are allowed to carry over unused cap space from one year to the next, and they are also allowed to use “cap space” to sign players to multi-year contracts.

Cap space can also be traded between teams. If one team has more salary cap space than they need, they can trade some of their space to another team that is over their salary cap. This can be done in exchange for draft picks or other players.

The amount of salary cap space a team has can change rapidly during the offseason as teams release players and sign new ones. As a result, it’s difficult to say definitively who has the most salary cap space at any given time. However, we can take a look at who had the most salary cap space as of March 10th, 2020.

As of March 10th, 2020, these are the teams with the most salary cap space:

1. Indianapolis Colts: $89.8 million
2. Cleveland Browns: $78.9 million
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $74.6 million
4. New York Jets: $72.6 million
5+ Buffalo Bills: $70

Conclusion

In conclusion, the team with the most salary cap space in the NFL is the San Francisco 49ers. They have over $66 million in cap space to work with this offseason. The 49ers could use this money to sign some high-profile free agents or they could choose to keep it as salary cap space for next season.