2022 Salary Cap Ceiling Set At $208.2M

According to Dan Graziano, the NFL and NFLPA have agreed that the 2022 salary cap will be no higher than $208.2 million. 

That would be a 14 percent increase from the 2021 salary cap of $182.5 million. 

The pandemic eliminated a sizable chunk of the league’s revenue last year but the two sides agreed to spread the losses over multiple years, so the cap only shrunk about $16 million from 2020 to 2021. 

The salary cap is collectively bargained between the NFL and NFLPA each year based on projected league revenues.

Graziano says if revenues bounce back more than is expected this year, any excess over $208.2 million will be used to pay back the $17 million in player benefits that were canceled as a part of negotiations last year. 

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. 

Graziano notes a cap of $208.2 million wouldn’t be “caught up” to where the league was on pace to be but it would be better than the expectations of some in the league who thought the cap would be closer to flat than growing. 

Tom Pelissero adds there is no cap floor as of now but it’s hard to see the cap dropping from its current level. 

Teams had to make a number of hard decisions this offseason to cut veterans with higher salaries to adjust to the falling cap so even a couple million more on the cap could make a difference next offseason. 

We’ll have more on the 2022 salary cap as the news is available.