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NFL free agency is less than a week away, and the cap is finally set, swelling to $133 million, which is much higher than original projections. With that in mind, here is a look at where each team stands in terms of number of players under contract, how much cap space they entered the week committed to spending in 2014, according to the NFLPA.
So, if you subtract that team's total from $133 million, you get their cap space. The third total in the chart is set out committed cash -- or the amount of actual payroll dollars the team is scheduled to spend as of now. Keep in mind, this does not include money yet to spent on contract extensions that will come later this week, and also does not include money yet to saved from players being released, taking pay cuts, etc.
It's a current snapshot, but keep in mind teams like Pittsburgh can save more than $10 million, easily, by redoing Troy Polamalu's deal and cutting Ike Taylor, and will save another $6M by releasing Levi Brown, which they will do (Pittsburgh comes in about $7M over the cap in this chart).
Chicago can save about $15M in cap room by designating Julius Peppers a June 1 cut, and Tennessee can save about $6 million by parting with Chris Johnson and St. Louis can save $9 million by cutting corner Cortland Finnegan. The Seahawks' number does not yet reflect the roughly $11M in savings from their recent release of Sidney Rice and Red Bryant.
Dallas is about $20M over the cap here, but with tough choices coming for Miles Austin and DeMarcus Ware, they can at least get close to cap compliance.
Carolina, on the other hand, will be very close to the cap once the franchise tag they placed on Greg Hardy kicks on (close to $130M from the $117M threshold indicted here). And Washington will be right around $130M once the money for franchising Brian Orakpo kicks in.
Furthermore, Oakland, for instance, doesn't even have $70M in cap space allotted yet, and less than $50M in actual payroll, tens of millions less than anyone else in the NFL. The Jets -- even though I expect them to be primarily bargain shoppers on the open market, will have even more than their current $25M in space after parting with guys like Mark Sanchez and Santonio Holmes.
The Colts and Jags also have well over $30 million in cap space, and the Browns are loaded with room as well.
2014 NFL Team Salary Cap Situations | |||
Contracts | Team Cap | Team Cash | |
Arizona Cardinals | 58 | $122,454,920 | $98,823,354 |
Atlanta Falcons | 53 | $116,431,071 | $96,404,156 |
Baltimore Ravens | 44 | $106,402,323 | $88,114,50 |
Buffalo Bills | 63 | $125,092,434 | $89,611,536 |
Carolina Panthers | 58 | $117,340,304 | $79,700,853 |
Chicago Bears | 52 | $125,102,001 | $107,757,722 |
Cincinnati Bengals | 62 | $111,300,523 | $91,788,771 |
Cleveland Browns | 66 | $101,572,067 | $82,915,604 |
Dallas Cowboys | 62 | $152,201,383 | $106,175,079 |
Denver Broncos | 63 | $127,230,112 | $107,100,138 |
Detroit Lions | 53 | $123,679,422 | $72,483,534 |
Green Bay Packers | 60 | $109,697,531 | $83,552,456 |
Houston Texans | 61 | $125,336,520 | $100,562,811 |
Indianapolis Colts | 57 | $92,593,156 | $71,697,115 |
Jacksonville Jaguars | 64 | $96,517,190 | $77,128,940 |
Kansas City Chiefs | 68 | $125,755,074 | $100,997,115 |
Miami Dolphins | 49 | $111,882,727 | $84,374,753 |
Minnesota Vikings | 54 | $102,078,828 | $80,496,574 |
New England Patriots | 66 | $126,515,381 | $82,101,117 |
New Orleans Saints | 53 | $125,327,008 | $82,897,553 |
New York Giants | 52 | $117,121,817 | $82,596,597 |
New York Jets | 57 | $107,728,879 | $82,927,975 |
Oakland Raiders | 52 | $68,767,080 | $48,666,126 |
Philadelphia Eagles | 60 | $124,008,964 | $118,748,268 |
Pittsburgh Steelers | 63 | $140,100,516 | $101,422,309 |
San Diego Chargers | 60 | $130,579,261 | $95,858,904 |
San Francisco 49ers | 64 | $120,175,054 | $99,477,884 |
Seattle Seahawks | 59 | $130,070,446 | $111,656,748 |
St. Louis Rams | 56 | $126,057,768 | $107,330,425 |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 60 | $120,978,242 | $112,375,311 |
Tennessee Titans | 59 | $126,946,609 | $102,970,396 |
Washington Redskins | 64 | $117,309,347 | $86,703,274 |