According to Ian Rapoport, the NFL will have to move back the franchise tag deadline from its current deadline on Tuesday if the league doesn’t set the official salary cap soon.
While the floor for the 2021 salary cap has been bumped up to $180 million, the NFL and NFLPA still have to agree on the final number. It could come in the range of $182-$183 million.
It’s thought that the league is waiting for major TV broadcast rights deals to be finalized before setting the cap, as that’s expected to result in a huge increase in money over the next decade.
Until that number is set, though, it looks like the league will need to further delay aspects of its offseason calendar in order to give teams the full picture.
The NFL also has the right to expand to a 17-game regular season, but a new media contract would have to be finalized before the NFL officially adds the 17th game to the regular season in 2021.
The league is reportedly in negotiations right now and there has been talk that agreements with some networks could be in place at some point in the coming weeks.
Every dollar will help teams who are expected to face a major challenge adjusting to the salary cap falling for the first time in decades due to revenue losses from the pandemic. It was at $198 million in 2020 and had risen around $10 million a year for most of the past decade.
Even if the cap ends up at or around $185 million per year, there’s going to be a cap crunch this offseason that will likely result in some notable cap casualties. Beyond that, it could make for a tough free-agent market.
We’ll have more regarding the salary cap and franchise tag deadline as the news is available.
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