Salary Cap For 2022 Could Reach $208.2 Million
According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the NFL and NFLPA have come to an agreement on the ceiling for the salary cap in 2022 of $208.2 million, which is only around $10 million higher than the projected salary cap was to be for 2021.
It's still a sizable gain, $25.7 million, from the $182.5 million salary cap teams are working with in 2021 as a result of the pandemic, but it won't be until 2023 when the cap will likely jump up significantly due to the influx of new revenue from broadcasting deals the NFL has signed in the past year.
Currently, the Cleveland Browns have $21.077 million in cap room. They have not signed all of their rookies to contracts and could still make roster moves. However, their plan is to be able to roll over a good amount of money so that between that and the $25.7 million in new salary cap space, they can have roster flexibility to continue adding and retaining talent.
The Browns have borrowed money against the 2022 salary cap already in the form of void years. Still, rolling over money will likely account for all of that money and then some.
This could help teams such as the Browns, Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills work on extensions over the summer now that they have some framework in which to operate. As much as players might want to wait and try to get more in another year, it can be extremely difficult for anyone to turn down a triple digit contract, should that be offered, with the potential for over $50 million of it guaranteed.
It likely won't change much in how teams operate as this was largely an expected outcome. Being relatively moderate in expanding the 2022 cap to pay themselves back for a drop in revenue suffered during the pandemic before then reflecting the influx of new money in revenue, which would then expand the salary cap.
