According to Ian Rapoport, the 2022 NFL salary cap is expected to come in at $208.2 million. The number has not been announced but that’s expected to come next week at the league’s annual labor seminar.
Back in May, the NFL and NFLPA agreed on a ceiling of $208.2 million for the cap as a continued part of their strategy to spread the significant revenue losses from the pandemic over multiple years.
The cap shrank $16 million from 2020 to 2021, going down to $182.5 million this year. The jump back to $208.2 million represents a figure closer to where things would have been in 2021 had there been no disruption.
The league and the union set a ceiling instead of a floor to leave open the possibility that further disruption, like lockdowns or canceled games, could limit the cap. However, this season has gone off without a hitch so far.
Rapoport adds there’s a lot of optimism the cap could spike substantially again in 2023 as things continue to return to normal.
The salary cap is collectively bargained between the NFL and NFLPA each year based on projected league revenues.
The league signed huge new media rights deals that along with future gambling revenue streams and a 17-game regular season are expected to dramatically accelerate the NFL salary cap, which already was growing by about $10 million per year before the pandemic.
We’ll have more on the NFL salary cap as the news is available.
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