NFL Sets Salary Cap: How Much Money do the Arizona Cardinals Have?

The Arizona Cardinals have some money to spend, now that the NFL has officially notified teams of its cap space.

Nov 3, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Arizona Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort looks on before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Arizona Cardinals move into the 2026 offseason with their salary cap officially set.

The NFL, according to insider Mike Garafolo, has notified teams that 2026's salary cap will be set at $301.2 million per club.

Where does this leave the Cardinals?

NFL Salary Cap Rankings

As of Feb. 27, this is what the league's overall cap space rankings look like according to OverTheCap:

1. Tennessee Titans ($94.7 million)
2. Las Vegas Raiders ($89. million)
3. New York Jets ($88.7 million)
4. Los Angeles Chargers ($85.4 million)
5. Washington Commanders ($71.2 million)
6. Seattle Seahawks ($59.5 million)
7. Cincinnati Bengals ($50.4 million)
8. Los Angeles Rams ($41.6 million)
9. New England Patriots ($40.2 million)
10. Pittsburgh Steelers ($39.9 million)
11. San Francisco 49ers ($38.7 million)
12. Indianapolis Colts ($33.2 million)
13. Arizona Cardinals ($31.6 million)

It's notable that the Cardinals will have roughly $20.1 million in "effective" cap space, which already takes into account the cap space allocated towards their projected draft class.

The Cardinals have heavily leaned on the draft under fourth-year general manager Monti Ossenfort, though last offseason was the first time Arizona spent heavy money on the open market.

This year, the Cardinals own the No. 3 overall pick in the upcoming draft, and with little valuable players to re-sign, perhaps they'll again look to make a splash.

"Free agency is just another tool for roster-building. It's a finite group of players in free agency. The only players that are available are the ones that are free agents. So there's a market that goes along with that," Ossenfort said at the combine.

"I don't think that's ever a situation, free agency where you want to rely on that to build your roster. It's really more of a supplement. And really, those two are kind of independent. What's available at pick number three, who knows if we're even gonna be picking at number three. We've got a long time to go between now and then. We're gonna continue to build the roster as we see fit and free agency will be a part of that."

Notable Cardinals Cut Candidates

The Cardinals could squeeze some more available cap space by parting ways with a few big names that are eating salary on the roster.

We've previously discussed James Conner being an unfortunate cut candidate thanks to his age and season-ending foot injury. Arizona would save $7.5 million against the cap by doing so.

Fellow injured reserve player and cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting would be cut for $7.2 million in cap savings while Bilal Nichols ($5.5 million) and Dalvin Tomlinson ($9.4 million) are names to watch along the defensive line.

Top Free Agents to Re-Sign

The Cardinals don't have many names to bring back under any circumstance, though guys such as Calais Campbell, Kelvin Beachum, Blake Gillikin and Starling Thomas were strong in their prior respective roles in the desert.

When Does NFL Free Agency Start?

The NFL's free agent tampering period begins on Monday, March 9.