Ranking all 32 NFL teams based on available salary cap heading into free agency

Update: The official salary cap number has been released for the 2024 NFL season and it’s even higher than reported. After a cap of $224.8 million in 2023, the 2024 number is $255.4 million. That’s over a $30 million increase, which is a record. Every team will get an extra 30 million to work with compared to last year, which should help some teams retain players, but will also give teams flush with cap space to spend more in free agency.

The 2024 NFL season is in full swing, as teams evaluate players and contracts and needs heading into free agency and the NFL Draft. That evaluation will include the salary cap and where each team stands as far as their current payroll and the salary cap number they must stay underneath heading into the new season.

The free agency negotiating period begins March 11th and ends March 13th, which will also be when teams need to be under the salary cap. This year the cap number hasn’t been officially set, but it’s estimated to be around $242 million, which is a big increase from the 224.8 million last season. There’s even a chance it could move up close to $250 million, per Pro Football Talk. But for now, those who calculate salary cap, like Over The Cap, have used the $242 million number in their work. Any way you look at it, teams are going to get a boost in how much they can spend. And some of them really need it.

There are plenty of ways to get a team under the cap. To get under the cap teams can cut or trade a player to get them off their books, but they can also restructure contracts, which usually means converting a player’s base salary into a signing bonus. The team then spreads that signing bonus money out into the future. They can’t get away from the money impacting their salary cap, but they can spread it out and into the future.

Teams in salary cap trouble

As usual, the New Orleans Saints are way over the salary cap as we head to the new season. They are currently more than $75 million over the cap, but with rookie deals and the fact they must sign 51 players, their “effective” salary cap is over $80 million in the hole. That number will start getting closer to even over the next few weeks as they are already restructuring deals as we speak, starting with center Erik McCoy, who they just restructured.

There’s no doubt the Saints will get where they need to be, but will they carve out enough space to have room to make their roster better through free agency and will they lose any players that could have helped their team, but they needed to cut costs?

The Bills, Dolphins, and Chargers are all currently $45 million or more over the “effective” cap. Much will depend on the contracts they have on the books and how easily they can get under the cap without hurting their teams.

Teams with plenty of salary cap space

The Commanders, Patriots, Bears, Titans, Bengals, Colts and Texans all have $50 to $61 million in salary cap space to lead the league. All except the Bengals have or will have quarterbacks on rookie contracts going into next season and should be set up well for a rebuild with the excess cash. The Bengals will need to still make some tough decisions, as they just gave Joe Burrow the biggest contract ever, while Ja’marr Chase is closing in on a big payday.

The Bears have the No. 1 pick along with the No. 9 pick in the 2024 NFL draft along with $54 million in effective salary cap, which includes having paid two Top 10 picks. It will be tough to argue that the Bears would have more talent if they kept Justin Fields and traded away the No. 1 pick, i.e. QB Caleb Williams, for draft capital. If you can get Williams on a rookie deal along with a top wide receiver to go along with a bunch of cap space, it really is a no-brainer and an unbelievable start for a rebuild.

Updated 2/23