NFLPA Expects 2016 Salary Cap To Increase By $10M

NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith says “conservatively” the union expects the the salary cap to increase by another $10 million in 2016, per Tom Pelissero.

Smith added that there are two teams — the Raiders at $41 million and Jaguars at $28 million — currently below the 89 percent minimum four-year cash spend threshold, per Pelissero.

The 2015 salary cap was set at $143,280,000, but previous reports have said that it could be as high as $155 million or an increase of 7.56 percent.

The salary cap has been on the rise for the past few seasons after remaining flat for the first few years of the current collective bargaining agreement. In the past two years alone, the cap has increased by $10 million annually.

It’s worth mentioning that the NFLPA has been more reliable than the NFL in projecting the future cap figures, so there’s at least a chance the 2016 cap could settle even higher than this estimate if Smith is right about the $10 million figure being conservative.

NFL teams are required to spend 89 percent of the their cap and cash spending has to 95 percent of the salary cap limit, or the difference will go to the union who distributes the money between the players.

We’ll have more regarding the 2016 salary cap as the news is available.